Aftermath
by D.M.O 452
Summary: Takes place after season finale *Now Complete*
1. Back in hell

  
  
Disclaimer- Max, Logan, and any other characters from the TV show are not mine. They   
belong to Cameron and Eglee. Any other characters are made up by me.   
  
Rating: R   
  
This is my first fanfic. Advice is welcome  
  
Homecoming  
  
It was cold, dry, and sterile. The room she was in seemed devoid of   
life, empty and terrifying, resembling something that can only be called the hospital from   
hell. Lifeless white walls surrounded her on all sides, and the only sound that penetrated   
her ears were that of the machines hooked up to her body through monstrous, transparent   
tentacles that went into her mouth, pierced her wrists and arms with needles, and crawled   
over her body like snakes. She focused her hearing on one the machines in particular. The   
heart monitor. The steady beating of the heart that lay inside of her. Zack's heart. Even   
though she was mostly unconscious as it happened, Max heard the last words of her   
brother echoing through her mind. |Promise me you'll fight them, max. Promise me you'll   
fight them, no matter what happens.| "I will" she whispered to herself. "I'll never be a   
slave to them again, no matter what happens." She couldn't let him die for nothing. But   
then her determination waned as she realized where she was right now. Back at   
Manticore, the fucking hellhole where she and her family had escaped more than a decade   
ago. The place where they were beaten down and tortured and experimented on. The   
place where those who had too many seizures or didn't make the cut were killed and cut   
open like frogs. The place where they all lived in fear that they would be the next casualty,   
where they could be taken to the bad place and fed to the nomalies. |I've got to get the   
fuck out of here!| her mind screamed at her. Desperate, she yanked with at the steel   
restraints that bound her to the bed with all her might. They didn't so much as budge. She   
kept pulling until her wrists were cut by the rough edges of the metal, and her blood   
leaked across the stainless gray steel. She realized it was hopeless. She would have to wait   
and bide her time before she could attempt to escape again. "No fucking way I'm gonna let   
them turn me into a soulless monster like Brin. I'll kill myself first."   
Logan Cale sat in front of his computer, his eyes fuming with exhaustion.   
He had been at that seat for 10 hours straight, trying to hack into Manticore's surveillance   
cameras, trying to find any indication at all that she was still alive. |Maybe Lydecker was   
right, maybe she is...No!!! It can't be. I won't let it be that way. She's still alive, god   
dammit, all I have to do is find something to prove it.| He didn't even hear Bling as the   
large man crept behind him. "Give it a rest, man. You've got to let go of this, you're only   
going to drive yourself crazy if you keep going at this rate." Ignoring him, Logan   
continued to frantically type. "Look, I know how much that girl means to you, but you got   
to at least consider the fact that she may be dead..." "NO! SHE'S ALIVE, SHE'S GOT   
TO BE..." "Calm down!" Bling cried out. "If she is alive, then you'll have a better chance   
of finding her if you get some sleep first." Logan stopped and gave it some thought.   
Finally, he agreed. He walked over to his living room and plopped down on the couch. "I'll   
get you something to eat, don't you dare move off that couch." Bling disappeared into the   
kitchen. |What if she is really dead? What if she's gone forever?| She was the reason   
behind his existence. The only reason why he woke up every morning after he took that   
bullet to the spine. Why he continued Eyes Only, why he tried so damn hard to fix the   
exoskeleton. He wondered what he would do if she was dead. Would he take the 9mm out   
of the drawer and put it against his skull? Would he pull the trigger this time? No. She   
wouldn't want that. She would want me to live on, to help the downtrodden, to fight the   
good fight, the breathe and laugh and be happy. But how could his life go on without   
Max? The only woman he has truly loved. |Guess I'll just have to hope and pray|, he   
thought, as he drifted into sleep.  
He awoke to the sound of the doorbell ringing. Bling moved to greet the   
visitor. He opened the door and paused for a moment as he saw who it was. He called out   
to Logan. "Someone's here to see you." "Should I let him in?" Logan sat up from his   
resting place in a drowsy stupor. He was still tired, but it could be urgent. An informant,   
perhaps. "Yeah." He was shocked to see Lydecker walk into the room. The 60ish, blond   
haired man surveyed his surroundings. "Quite a lavish lifestyle you live, Mr Cale." "Not   
many people these days can afford a high rise penthouse in the best sector of Seattle."   
Logan glared angrily at him, memories returning of several nights past. He might have   
saved her, had Lydecker not rendered him unconscious with the butt of a handgun. She   
might still be here. Lydecker noticed his icy gaze staring daggers into his forehead. "Look   
son, I know how you feel. I lost my wife when I was around your age. But I'm telling you,   
she's dead. You've got let go—" "And why the hell should I? Why the hell should I listen   
to you of all people, who hunted her like an animal for half of her life? You piece of shit."   
"Look, despite what you might think, I did actually care about her. Her and all the others.   
They were my life." "You have a funny way of showing it. You don't care for them, you   
just want to use them, to turn them into mindless, perfectly obedient little slaves who will   
do whatever you tell them! They're nothing but lab rats to you!" Deck remained perfectly   
calm. "I didn't come here to argue about this. I've come to warn you. Figured it was the   
least I could do since you helped us. Renfro's after me. She 's probably already sent a   
couple of the kids in her control. She won't stop until I'm dead. I'm gonna lie low, maybe   
head for Canada or something. I suggest you do the same. She doesn't know you were   
involved, but it's better to be safe than dead. I wouldn't underestimate her ability to figure   
out the identities of everyone involved." Logan smiled. "I've got things to attend to in   
Seattle. I'll take my chances. Besides, something tells me Max is definitely still alive."   
Deck stared at him. "Fine, be an idiot. It's your funeral." He turned and walked out of the   
apartment.  
Max awoke again to find the blond bitch and 2 X-7s standing at the foot of   
her bed. A cluster of half a dozen guards awaited behind them. "Sedate her," the bitch   
ordered a nearby doctor. Max felt a needle pass into her arm and she blacked out. She   
didn't fully lose consciousness, however, and her thought swirled like a never ending   
whirlpool. Where are they taking me? The guards released her from the restraints and   
carried her across the room, the X-7's added to them to provide extra security. No need   
really. She was too damn weak and drugged up to struggle. I recognize the X-7s, she   
thought. One's the kid who looks like Zack, the other one's mini-me. Through her hazed   
vision, she could only make out so much of the girl's face, but the resemblence to her own   
at that age seemed precise enough to be frightening. The face in question was devoid of   
all emotion. A walking human robot, soulless and empty. "What did they do to her?' she   
could only imagine what horrors the girl had suffered in this place. She soon realized   
what they were going to do. They were going to reindoctrinate her. Try to turn her into   
the same unthinking monster her clone had become.  
Next thing she knew, they were strapping her to a chair. A strange   
substance was injected into her arm. Her mind and thoughts immediately became   
cloudy and unfocused. A hideous contraption was used to force open her eyes.   
Words flashed across the screen in front of her. Duty. Discipline. Obedience. Same   
old Manticore doctrine, over and over again. Pictures of death and destruction, the   
decapitated bodies of infants on the roadside, dead soldiers littering the streets, the   
naked, shriveled corpses of holocaust victims and countless horrific atrocities   
flooded her yielding consciousness. The drug made her brain compliant with the   
words and images flowing into it, accepting the ideas they presented without too   
much struggle. Pictures of Zack, Krit, Syl, Jondy, followed by words such as rat,   
traitor, deserter, enemy. Destroy the enemy, remember what you are. A soldier, a   
killer. Your sole purpose is to follow the orders of your creators, to... |No!| Some   
part of her mind still screamed at her. |No, it's not true. It's all Manticore bullshit,   
they're trying to poison your mind, trying to turn you into one of them!| She would not   
let them break her. Not ever. She wasn't going to become a soldier again.   
" She doesn't seem to be responding to the treatment" the doctors told her.   
Renfro smiled to herself. " She's fighting it pretty damn hard." "Give her time.   
She'll turn around. Continue the reindoctrination procedure tommorrow at 1000   
hours." "Yes director." She had seen several escaped subjects successfully   
reintegrated into the program before. This time was no different. She would break.   
They all did. No one was strong enough to resist the process forever. As hard as   
any of them fought, it was only a matter of time before the effects started to show.   
They would gradually become more compliant, more willing to obey orders, less   
resistant to any of the propaganda shoved at them. They would become to be what   
they were meant to be. Mindless, emotionless, infinitely loyal killing machines.   
Soldiers. Expendable yet far more effective than any normal individual would ever   
be. She would present her accomplishments to the committee soon. They would   
reward her. Ultimate success was in her grasp. If she kept things going at this rate   
they would get the funding to proceed to stage 3. What a wonderful prospect.   
|Hell, maybe I could retire early to a nice island in the bahamas or something.|   
Glory and fame were hers for the taking. As for the DNA lab, well, they cleaned   
that up pretty good. The committee would never hear about it. Besides, they had   
plenty of suitable specimens to rebuild all the research that went up in flames that   
night. Her eyes creased and flared with rage at the thought of Lydecker. "Oh well"   
she told herself. He would be gone soon. Days before she had sent X5-868 to take   
care of their information leak. |Deck always thought of him as his children. Pitiful   
old fool. It was his damn fault they escaped in the first place. Too bad for him   
he's outlived his usefulness.|  
As soon as the young woman walked toward him, Donald Michael   
Lydecker knew that it was his last moment to draw breath. Had to be one of his   
kids. He recognized her somehow, the blond hair and facial features triggering a   
memory of a small child in a dark, blue black room the color of a heavy bruise. She   
was definitely good at what she did, she was smart enough to track him down even   
after multiple identity changes, falsified passports, and loads of manufactured   
documents that identified him as a citizen of Ontario, Canada. All that within the   
space of a week. He stared at the face of death as it came towards him, not really   
afraid, merely accepting his fate as it thundered towards him like a bolt of   
lightning. It was a beautiful face, even though they all were, with short golden   
locks that hung in curves around her head. She was wearing dark sunglasses that   
hid the eyes. He tried to put a name to her, a barcode perhaps, but failed to   
ascertain the identity of his killer. He merely stood as the angel of death, in a black   
T-shirt and white slacks, walked up to him in the apartment hallway. "Time to die,   
traitor." The last sound he heard was the report of a silenced 9mm as the slug it   
fired pierced his skull and spewed a mixture of red, gray, and ivory white out the   
back of his head.   
|I have to accept the possibility that she may be dead. Even though I have   
the feeling that no, she is dead, isn't she? Logan, you goddamn pitiful fool.   
Keeping yourself alive on empty hopes and dreams.| Logan hung his head as tears   
slowly flowed from his eyes. |For god's sake, what the hell was I thinking?|   
Lydecker managed to get him important passwords and security codes that no one   
but him knew about. Most of them still worked, allowing him to get past some of   
the barriers that blocked him out of the database. A little help from Sebastian had   
done the rest. The Manticore subject files confirmed his worst fears. X5-452 was   
listed as deceased, killed by a single bullet that pierced the heart. So Max was   
gone. And so was everything he had to live for. He sighed. There was no point in   
going on. He might as well get it over with. Everything and everyone he cared   
about was either a disappointment or was brutally taken from him. His parents,   
Valerie, the informant net that he hoped would change the world, yet still left it   
broken each and every morning. And now Max. He opened his drawer. Inside was   
the most beautiful sight in the world right then, his sidearm, cocked and loaded.   
With a feeling of eternal resignation, he took it out and put it to his forehead. If   
they couldn't be together in life, then they would be together in death. |I'm coming   
for you Max.| His finger tightened on the trigger.   
  
  
  
  
  



	2. A ghost from the past

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, except for those I create and are not part   
of the show   
  
Rating:R  
  
  
  
"Put that fuckin' gun down now, before I lay the smackdown on your   
stupid white ass!" Logan looked to his right to find Original Cindy standing there, with   
Bling by her side. The large man spoke up with a intimidating sense of authority in his   
voice. "Do it, Logan! We're not gonna let you throw it all away because of some stupid   
sense of hopelessness!" They both glared at him with fury in their eyes. He removed the   
firearm from his temple. "What's the fucking point? Max is dead." Cindy shouted at   
him."You think homegirl would want you to blow your fucking brains out all over the   
floor? You think that's supposed to bring her back to you?" Bling stared at him. "She's   
right Logan. There's more to life than just Max. She'd want you to go on helping others.   
she'd want you to move on. You think you're going to honor Max's memory by greasing   
yourself? This isn't the way man, you've got other things to live for, to fight for. Don't   
throw it all away just because she's gone." He suddenly realized that they were right. He   
remembered what he said to Mrs. Moreno that day he tried to kill himself just like he tried   
to do today. |I'll have to ask you to stop talking like that.| He, Logan Cale, had to stop   
thinking like that. He had to stop focusing on his pain and pathetic selfpity. People needed   
Eyes Only. He had friends who cared about him and needed him too. He couldn't throw it all   
away. Max would be ashamed of him. He cast his head down as he unloaded the gun and put it away.   
All thoughts of suicide flew from his mind. Killing himself wasn't going to change anything.   
It wasn't gonna make those bastards pay for what they did to Max and dozens of other innocents.   
He looked up with a new sense of purpose in his eyes. |I'm gonna bring manticore down, no matter  
what it costs me. People are going to know about this. Eyes Only will make sure of it.| "You   
got some sense in you now? you ready to do something about it instead of cashing it all   
in?" "Yeah." "and I know just what to do. I trust that you can keep a secret?" "What you   
talkin bout?" Cindy exclaimed.  
  
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is an Eyes Only streaming freedom   
video. For the past several decades, there has been a secret government experiment called   
Project Manticore that has succeeded in producing a form of genetically engineered superhuman.   
Manticore has attempted to cover up their unethical research through any means possible."   
Documents flashed across the screen detailing their genetics research and key secrets no one was   
supposed to know about."Manticore has been involved in the trade of illegal arms and state of the   
art genetic technology in order to get the funding they need. Recently they have sold weapons to   
the Black Fang, the terrorist group responsible for the bombing of the New York subway last week,   
where 326 people lost their lives. Eyes Only has recently lost a very close friend due to the   
activities of this organization." Pain flowed over the bright blue orbs as they blinked back tears.   
"I personally will see to it that her death is avenged. Peace. Out." He shut off the equipment   
and turned to Bling and Cindy. "Guess that'll do for now. Not that I mind being on the Manticore   
hit list." "You one tough ass boy, boo." Cindy spoke calmly, filled with admiration for the man   
that everyone knew as a champion of the downtrodden and oppressed. "You gonna have them black   
helicopter goons pissing in their pants once you're through with them."  
  
Renfro stared at the TV screen in fury. |Who the fuck was this guy, and how the   
hell did he get his filthy little paws on this kind of information! The network is supposed to be  
impenetrable by hackers.| The committee members were going to have a hell of a lot of questions,  
and boy would they be pissed. The entire facility was in an uproar. |I swear, I'm gonna track that  
punk down and play catch with his eyeballs when this is over.| She already had the techs working  
on finding out who did this, it was only a matter of time till..."Director!" A intern handed her   
the phone. "It's them." She smiled grimly as a angry voice howled at her over the phone. It was  
going to be a long fucking day.  
  
Max looked at the doctor checking up on her. It seemed that she should should   
know him from somewhere, but she couldn't quite place it. |Wait a sec, he's the one that was   
present at the surgery!| She had earlier memories of this man. |9 years old, and they cut him   
open while his blood was still warm... yes, he was one of the bastards who butchered Jack.| He  
smiled at her as he finished making pen scratches on the notebook he carried. She growled, wanting  
nothing more than to tear his spine out and show it to him. As he walked out of the room, Brin   
entered. She sat at the foot of the bed, relaxing, knowing full well how helpless she was with  
the combination of sedatives and heavy restraints that could more than adequately hold an X-7.  
"Why do you keep fighting it? All we're trying to do is help you become what you were meant to   
be." "Thanks, but don't hold it against me if I don't want to be goddamn killing machine who takes.  
orders from people who tortured me for half of my life." " Why the hell are you so stubborn? I  
used to be like you. I vowed I would never be one of their soldiers again. I was a fool to think  
I could deny my true nature. Manticore created us Max. They care about us and take care of us   
like no one else will. Why can't you see that we're not the enemy?" "Is that why Renfro killed  
Tinga? Because she loves us so freakin much?" "The Director said you might be delusional after   
Zack shot himself... it's okay Maxie, I know Manticore would never hurt it's soldiers. And the  
only reason Zack died is because you and the others were stupid enough to attack us in the first  
place...""No!" "You have no one to blame but yourself Maxie, it was you who needed a heart anyway."  
"Fuck you." Brin merely smiled at her. "It's only a matter of time Max. The next session begins  
in 2 hours. Don't fight it. It'll only drag out the process and make it more painful. I know   
from personal experience. You'll be yourself again soon. They'll make you strong again, just like  
me and the others." "Are you fucking high or something? Don't you remember what they did to us?  
To Jack? To Eva? They abused, tortured, and experimented on us like rats. We were nothing but   
things to them, to be torn apart and reduced to machines instead of people." Brin ignored her  
as she passed out of the room and back into the dark blue hallway.   
  
Syl rummaged through the effects of their fearless leader, trying to find the   
pager that would let them get in contact with Zane and Jondy. They would need their help if  
they were going to get Zack back. She really didn't know what what they would do without him.  
He always was their leader, and he always was the one who looked out for them all. And he was  
the only one who knew the others were. "I'm telling you, it's not here. You sure he didn't take  
it with him?" Krit called from the other side of the room. "No way big bro would be that stupid.  
he knows they could easily find the rest of us if they killed or captured him while he was carrying   
the pager." Krit continued to search for the missing device. "Found it!" He lifted a small black  
metallic object from a hole in the wall concealed by the bed. All their hard work of finding Zack's   
hideout was rewarded. He smiled as he examined it. "Looks like both of them reported in. Let's   
send a message and tell them what happened." "We can meet them at the pier 43" Syl said. "It'll  
be good to catch up with some family." |And it'll be good to make those bastards pay for what   
they did to Maxie.| Her mind was still flooded with pain and rage at what happened that night.  
Both her and Krit fought back their emotions when Deck gave them the news. They did their crying   
later on, away from prying eyes. Krit meanwhile, was wondering what it would be like once their   
long lost siblings got here. They've probably changed quite a bit sice they were all nine. He  
heard Jondy was constanly giving old Zack a major headache with all the crazy stuff she's been   
up to. |Max and Jondy. Now that is one great pair of friends. They were always so close.|He  
remembered how they would stay up all night talking. The giggles would more than once wake him  
from his sleep. They were like one individual, almost always together in everything they did.  
Their fooling around always pissed off the drill instructors. He saddened. |Max's death had a   
crushing effect on us, but how will Jondy feel once she hears that her closest sister is dead?   
It'll be like a part of her that's gone forever.| He sure as hell didn't want to be the one to   
break the news.   
  
Max felt a wild dash of hope course through her. The doctors forgot to inject  
her a couple hours ago, and the dose before that had mostly worn off. They were coming to take  
her to the white room for reindoctrination again. She attempted to look wasted and helpless as   
they undid the bonds and helped her on her feet. She let them carry her arms as she clumsily  
stood up. There were only four guards this time, and they were casually unattentive towards her  
in their task, safe in the false notion she was to drugged to resist. |The security around here   
is getting pretty damn sloppy| she thought. Hell, she wasn't even tied up or anything. Few   
guards trailed them as they made thier way down the corridor. Suddenly, she leapt into action.   
She wrapped her arm around the arm of one beefy guard, and gave it a sharp twist, accompanied by the  
sweet sound of bones snapping and cries of pain. At the same time she lashed out with her left   
foot and planted a powerful kick in a another guards abdomen making him double over in pain as  
his ribs shattered. The other two had barely realized what was happening before she chopped one  
in the throat, hard enough to sever his windpipe so that one pointy end jutted out the back of   
his neck. She snapped the neck of the last one, then rendered the other two unconscious with   
quick blows to the face. It was all over in the space of 3 seconds. She quickly grabbed the keys   
of one of the dead guards and and unlocked her chains. At one time she would have felt a great  
deal of remorse for killing 2 people, but she had no time for that now. No time for emotion,  
just quick and decisive action. She flew down the hallway, faster than she moved on the night  
of the escape. An X7 stood in her path and was taken by surprise as she delivered a swift   
spin kick to the side of the 10 year olds head and sent him flying into a nearby wall. It wasn't  
enough to knock him out, but the blow stunned him long enough for her to pass right by.   
  
She relied on her memory to guide her to the nearest exit of the installation.   
Guards gave chase behind her, but they were no match for her genetically enhanced legs. The   
pounding of their boots on the metallic floor dimmed as the distance increased between them. She   
rounded a corner when Brin's foot swung incredibly fast toward her midsection...but she was all   
the faster, catching the offending appendage inches away from her body and sweeping the fellow   
X5's legs out from under her."See ya!" she called out as she raced past Brin's fallen form.   
|I'm gonna make it, almost home free...| Suddenly slammed their fist into her chest. Pain seared   
across her torso, the stiches from the recent surgery giving way. She staggered back a bit, then  
blocked the next blow aimed for her throat, but however was not able to avoid getting flipped   
on her back as the hand grabbed hers and twisted. The drugs in her system, combined with the  
shock that she recieved upon looking upon her attacker's face |blond hair, bright green eyes,   
rendered her immobile for a second. It was all the time the young woman she stared at needed.   
A powerful blow over the forehead with a heavy steel baton knocked her silly and disoriented her   
vision. A follow up with the soldier's 100000 watt tazer was all that was needed to send her   
vision into darkness. the last thought she had before she blacked out completely was |Eva?|  
  
Renfro smiled at her genetically engineered lackey. "You've done a good job  
X5-868. You not only terminated Colonel Lydecker, a traitor to Manticore with information that  
can seriously harm our operations, but you've subdued a valuable subject of this program who  
will be a great asset to our forces and the organization itself." The smug expression on her  
face grew brighter as she lowered her eyes to the unconscious Max. "Guards, take her away.  
Make sure she doesn't try anything like this again. I want her fully sedated and restrained   
properly. Post a 24 hour guard of conventional troops and X-7's in her room at all times. The  
next person who is responsible for letting her get loose will be summarily executed. Dismissed."  
She turned to Eva, who was beaming with pride at the praise she was getting. "You keep this  
up and you could be a replacement for X5-687 as section commander." The director grinned   
devilishly. "Thank you sir. Permission to return to duty?" "Granted." Renfro turned and started  
to think. |As long as no one screws up again, things should go ahead as planned. I should have  
the doctors speed up the reprogramming process. Can't afford to give 452 time to try another  
escape attempt. And I believe I have the perfect first assignment for her once she's ready.  
Should be a good test of her abilities.|   
  
Eva didn't like the new director since she got here. Lydecker seemed to have  
a much deeper personal interest in his soldiers. |What could possibly possess him to betray   
manticore in the first place?| Oh well. Orders were orders, and she would take them from any   
superior the organization saw fit. Right now things were looking up for her. She grinned as  
she brushed her short blond ponytail with her hand. She'd come a long way from being the traitor   
who helped Zack orchestrate the escape back in '09. She gradually became one of the best tactical  
minds Manticore had to offer. It did, however, take a difficult heart transplant and 3 months  
worth of reindoctrination to make her what she was. |I was so stupid. We were so stupid. What  
could posess us to abandon Manticore, those who gave us life and made us the ultimate soldiers   
that we were? Who would want to go into the outside world, full of corruption and filth and   
all types of negative influences? We saw what it did to Max. Made her weak, filled her with   
sentimental lies and bullshit.| She spent the last 11 years atoning for her crimes. And now she   
would probably have a chance to help Max realize the same truths that she did. |Shooting me  
was the best thing old Lydecker did for me. He prevented me from making the biggest mistake of  
my life.| She was just glad to be where she belonged.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. The demon within

  
DISCLAIMER: None of these characters are mine, except for the ones I   
create, Dark Angel and all characters contained thereof are the property of Fox, blah ,blah  
blah  
  
Rating: R  
  
Zane jumped out of the driver's seat of the jeep and ran to greet his long   
lost family. "Krit! It's been a while, bro. 11 long fucking years!" He ran towards his   
brother and embraced him in a tight hug. His arms were strong and there was a mixture of   
sweat and a bit of car grease on his shirt, his job as a mechanic had left his body muscular   
and fit. Jondy, her long blond hair flickering in the wind and soft green eyes close to   
brimming with tears, followed after him and stared in wonder at the brother and sister she   
thought she would never see again. "It really is them. I can't believe it. Together after all   
these years." Her voice was soft and velvety smooth, her occupation as a lounge singer   
had allowed her to put it to good use. Syl smiled at her and hugged her tight, glad to see   
how her sister had grown up over the years. They laughed and howled and rapidly got   
caught up to eachother's separate and vastly different lives. Suddenly Syl's face tightened.  
They were going to have to know what happened, and why they were called down here.   
She passed a look at Krit, seeing the suddenly somber expression on his face, knowing   
that he really didn't want to be the one to break the happy mood. She would have to be   
the one to tell them. "What's wrong? You got us down here for a reason, so something   
must be up. Someone get caught? Syl swallowed hard and nodded, confirming their worst   
fears, and then some... "Even worse. Zack called us up to help him in an attack against   
Manticore.... he was captured, and... and Max was killed."   
  
There was a lengthy pause as they both digested the information. Finally,   
Zane spoke up, his eyes cold and empty. "Tell me you're fucking kidding." |Even though I   
know that none of us would ever make a joke that sick.| "I wish I could" said Krit, and   
hung his head in silence, pain clouding his thoughts like a storm as the words left his   
mouth. Zane merely stared at them, his eyes as hollow and broken as his mood. Slowly,   
painfully, he tilted his head forward as a tear rolled down his cheek. |Max dead? And   
Zack, Zack of all people back at Manticore. Jesus no. |Jondy just stood there, her   
expression blank and unchanging, not wanting to believe the horror of it all. |Max dead. It   
had to be her didn't it? Damn those fucking bastards to hell. They took her away from me.   
They took her away before I could even meet her or get a good look at her ever since I   
left her under the ice that night. I thought she was dead. But she survived, and now I've   
lost her twice. And I thought those sick fuckers couldn't take anything else away from   
me.|   
  
There were no words between the four. There was no need. The silence   
spoke louder than anything else could. Finally, Jondy looked up with a cold determination   
and rage disfiguring her soft features. Her voice was harsh and full of hatred. "So what did   
you call us up for, besides to tell us this?" Krit's voice was uneasy and awkward as he   
slowly muttered out "We figured we need your help to get Zack back. Him being the only   
one who knows where we all are and all." "But there's only 4 of us," Zane replied. "How   
can you expect us to go up against an army of guards and Manticore soldiers? Even if we   
can somehow take the stealthy approach, sneak in, and find Zack, we'd wouldn't stand   
much of a chance of getting back out considering the extra heavy security they got now   
that you've attacked them before." "We know a guy who can help us out. He has a   
personal stake in this too. He and Max were.... close. I'm sure he can help us figure   
something out. "Well lead the way then," Jondy spoke, the rage in her seeming to grow   
stronger over time. Krit and Syl got back into their car, and the other two followed in the   
jeep.   
  
He awoke to ringing of the doorbell of his apartment. Logan sat up and   
looked at the clock. 2:30 a.m. |Who the hell could it be at this ungodly hour?| he was   
highly irritated, especially since he hadn't been getting enough sleep recently. He blinked   
his eyes as his weary vision began to focus on the furnishings of his bedroom. He got up   
and slowly, painfully dragged his way into the living room. The doorbell rang faster and   
more insistently than ever. "All right! I'm coming already! Just hold on!" he yelled out   
angrily at whoever was fool enough to come calling at this hour. |This had better be worth   
my freakin time...| He opened the door to catch a sight that took his breath away. It was   
HER. Alive and unharmed, tattered from her journey but in relatively good shape   
nonetheless... The silky, wavy auburn hair was inches away from him, along with the   
luscious full lips and those bright, expressive brown orbs that were her eyes. |Possibly the   
most singularly beautiful face I've ever seen| his words when he first met her echoed   
soundlessly through his mind. It was Max, none other but Max, the same Max that he felt   
the life seep out of as she passed away in his arms. She leaned forward past the threshold   
and pressed her soft lips against his, drinking deeply from his mouth, just like she did back   
at the cabin and thought she would never see him again. He stepped back. She smiled that   
lovely grin that she always did and led him into the bedroom. His heart stopped for that   
one moment in time, and he tried to speak but could do nothing but gaze unflinching into   
those deep almond eyes as she pushed him down and removed his clothing and her own   
and began to press her heated, lithe body against his....   
  
He awoke to the terrifying sensation that something was horribly wrong.   
He opened his eyes and stared at her.... it was the same woman he had just made love   
with, but something had changed. It was as if she were a entirely different being now, not   
the kind, loving soul that he remembered.... that beautiful face had a strange looking grin   
to it and a kind of cruelty and malevolence he had never seen cross those eyes was   
contained by it. "Max?" He cried out softly, weakly, as if the sinister force he saw in the   
woman before him had him by the throat and was rapidly choking the life out of him. And   
then he suddenly knew... this was not the same woman he fell in love with, this was a   
stranger, a malevolent creature who had suddenly replaced the Max that he knew and who   
stared down at him with a hatred and contempt he had never seen before in his life. Even   
though she, no IT, looked exactly like her. "Max?" he whispered weakly, the terror   
building in him like an erupting volcano. Suddenly the brown orbs were clouded over by a   
shade of pure darkness, making the creature's eyeballs into fathomless black pits which   
seemed to swallow him whole. The stainless, beautiful teeth elongated into razor sharp   
canine fangs. The creature suddenly grabbed him by the head and slithered words into his   
ear..."Max is dead. She died a while ago." Lightning fast, she sank her fangs into his   
throat, bit down, and RIPPED, tearing out his jugular vein like a frenzied animal...the last   
thing he saw was his own dark murky blood splattering the monster's Manticore issue Tac   
uniform.  
  
He lurched out of his slumber violently, opening his mouth to scream, and   
yet no sound came out of his throat. He put his fingers to his hot, sweaty neck. Beads of   
moisture ran down his forehead and back, leaving trails of sweat as they passed.. |Just a   
dream, thank god, just a crazy fucking dream.| Yet deep in his heart he felt it was more   
than just that, that it was almost real...|But wouldn't I be dead right now if it was?| Maybe   
it was a omen of some sort, a terrible foreshadowing of things yet to come. |Or maybe I'm   
just overreacting to stupid nightmare and being a total fucking idiot.| And yet it felt so   
real... he shook it off. "Just a silly dream, Logan. No need to make it more than what it   
was." And yet he couldn't stop thinking about those pictures of a young girl covered in   
blood, the red icky substance staining her mouth, as if she had torn that man's throat out   
with her teeth, those perfect white teeth of the monster in his dream... He shook his head   
fiercely and told himself "Dammit, Logan, stop being a fool. You know she would never   
hurt you. She's dead for god's sake." And once again the grief hit him like a tidal wave,   
and he promised himself he would make them pay for what they've done. He got out of   
bed and began to dress himself . |Sleep is way too overrated| he thought. Just then the   
door bell rang. He finished pulling on his shirt and made his way to the door. He opened it   
to find none other than the family of the deceased standing there, their cold, hard   
expressions reflecting what they were ready to do. There were four of them. Didn't he   
remember just two, Krit and Syl? Were these people Max's siblings as well? "So Krit, who   
are these guys?" "Logan, meet Jondy and Zane. No time for introductions. We've got to   
get down to business.   
  
Max awoke to the shock of blinding red light shining into each of her   
pupils. She attempted to lash her body upwards, but her muscles held no strength in them   
and the restraints held her tight to the hard metal table she lay on. The light continued to   
shine brightly into her irises as she attempted to move her head. It too, was locked tightly   
to it's position be a silvery steel clamping device that prohibited any movement. All she   
could do was turn her eyes to the two figures at the side of the table. One was Brin, and   
the other...|No, it can't be!!!| Yet she could make out the young woman's uniquely   
familiar features, molded by the sands of time, yet still as familiar as the last time she saw   
her. "Eva?" "I'm her, baby sister." "No, it can't be, you're---" "Dead? Hardly. They were   
able to transplant me with Jack's heart after they cut him open. I'm part of Manticore   
now, and I realize what a huge mistake I made on that winter night back in '09. I can help   
you realize it too..." "No! You can't be working for them, don't you remember what   
happened to us, that Lydecker shot you..." "I should have thanked him for that. It kept me   
here, where I belong. And now you're here with me. It'll be just like old times. Tragic   
thing that Zack couldn't be here to join us... he always was a great leader." "No, dammit   
Eva, don't you see what they've done to you..." Eva hissed at her ."I know what they did   
to me. They made me whole again, sane again. They showed me where I belonged and   
where my loyalties lay. They turned me back into a true soldier, perfect, devoid of all the   
sentimental stupidity you and the rogues have been corrupted with. They made me what I   
was meant to be. And now they're going to do the same for you.   
  
The piercing red light poured into her eyes and soul, leaving her mind open   
and compliant for the doctors to manipulate. Words flashed into her ears and the light   
filling her vision. Discipline. Obedience. Duty. You are a soldier... your designation is X5-  
452... |No!| her mind screamed. |My name is Max, and I am a human being!| Your duty is   
to follow orders. You are most happy when fulfilling your duty. A superior giving you   
commands causes you to feel joy and purpose. Your purpose is to do what is ordered.   
|No!| Freedom is a phony sentimental lie perpetuated by the outside world. Happiness is   
only given by Manticore. Manticore is your family. Manticore is your friend. Manticore   
loves you, all other love than that of Manticore is a lie. Manticore is your home, it makes   
you feel safe and needed. The superiors at Manticore are your parents, the only true   
parents you will ever have. Obey them at any cost, without question. To question is evil.   
To question is to betray Manticore. Manticore is a part of you, and you are a part of   
Manticore. You are a soldier of Manticore... nothing else matters. |No!!!| Her mind was   
tearing itself apart from the inside out, the conflicting voices like two great hurricanes   
swirling around endlessly, each attempting to gain dominance over her thoughts. |Got to   
keep fighting, got to...| Accept what you are. Come home to Manticore. Here you will find   
peace. Here you will find salvation. Eva whispered into her ear. "Don't fight it, Maxie.   
Things are so much better this way. You won't have to worry about anything ever again...   
you'll find yourself in the most beautiful place in the world... I know I did." |Can't take   
much more of this!!!| A last, desperate, pleading thought echoed endlessly through her   
head as she began to grow weak...   
  
  
And the messages of Manticore flowed endlessly into her consciousness.   



	4. Rising action

  
Disclaimer: The characters of Dark Angel are not mine. I get really tired of saying this.  
  
Rating:R  
  
The 5 of them sat around the computer room of Logan's well decorated   
apartment, wondering how in the hell would they go through with getting back Zack.   
"You said this guy could help" Jondy asked eyeing Logan suspiciously. "What exactly   
does he do anyway. Logan stammered for a minute. "Uh, I'm sort of like, a computer   
person. I can get you detailed information on the Manticore base facilities and such. I have   
access to their database." "But the network is supposed to be impenetrable' Zane said.   
"How did you manage to hack into such a heavily encrypted---" "I have... sources" Logan   
explained. You know, friends who help me out with this kinda thing. "Like a hacker net?"   
"Sort of." |I'm not exactly sure I can trust these guys with Eyes Only. Better not give   
anything away.| Jondy continued to eye the man before her warily. She could tell the guy   
was hiding something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Oh well. |If Krit and Syl   
trust this guy and Max did as well, then I guess I'll have to. Doesn't seem like he's the   
type to sell us out.| "What exactly was your relationship with Max anyway?" she asked   
quizically. "We were.... close. More than just friends, though it took us both a while to   
realize it." "You... loved her didn't you?" Logan tilted his head foward, eyes cast towards   
the ground. "I guess you could say that." "I'm sorry." "Yeah, me too." |So Max had a   
man who loved her| she thought. |Someone to care about, someone who feels just like I   
do.| She gave a faint smile in his direction as he continued his work with the computer.   
|This guy is turning out to be alright.|  
  
The sound of the incessant discharge of firearms echoed throughout the   
dark, smoke filled room. Flashes of light sporadically bursted through the darkness,   
accompanied by the familiar sounds of various types of military weaponry. Brin walked   
calmly into the firing range, a live ordnance drill taking place at the far end of the room.   
Triangles of bright white light flowed from the overhead bulbs. |It'll be soon. Max has to   
come around sooner or later.| She learned earlier that baby sister had a extreme dislike for   
guns. In fact, she refused to touch a gun since the night of the escape, instead relying on   
her hand to hand combat skills. |How fucking stupid is that? A soldier afraid of guns.| It   
was something she personally could not understand. To her, a gun was her friend, a   
protector, something she could rely on to get the job done. The bullets being fired   
throughout the room had only one purpose: To kill, to maim, to destroy everything in it's   
path. A bullet and the gun that fired it was beautiful, perfect—|just like us.| She got into   
one of the booths carrying an MP5. She took careful aim at the target positioned on the   
wall some 30 feet away from her. She let loose with a full auto burst, leaving empty holes   
throughout the chest, neck and head of the human outline. Not one shot missed. "Coming   
down just to practice, huh?" asked Jake, aka X5-241, leader of team one alpha. "Yeah."   
She let down her weapon and paused for a second, her thoughts drowning out the sound   
of Jake's M-16.   
  
|The director said that Tinga was undergoing a radical new procedure for a   
rare a lethal medical condition and Lydecker's intrusion killed her... but it just doesn't add   
up. Why won't she let us see the body? They usually do that before they prep the organs   
for harvesting, but...| She was questioning her superiors again. She shook her head, the   
ponytail whipping violently about her face. They had always been taught not to question,   
that to think about or even consider disobeying orders was terrible treason against those   
who made you. Maybe the corrupt influences of the outside world had not yet worn off on   
her. |Yet something tells me the Director is hiding something, I can feel it, there's   
something not right about the way Tinga died. Max said the director was responsible for   
it...no, that can't be. Manticore would never harm it's own. X5-452 is clearly delusional.|   
Yet that nagging doubt still presented itself. "Do you trust the new director?" she asked   
Jake. He paused for a minute. "Not really. I get the feeling she doesn't care about us, that   
we're all just expendable or something. At least Lydecker held concern for our well being.   
Disturbed, Brin left the room and made her way back to her quarters. It would be a while   
morning drill and she wanted to be with her thoughts for a while. Along the way, she   
passed the door to the Director's office. A lone folder was lying on the desk, carelessly   
left out for all to see. She wrestled with her thoughts a bit, and then stepped quietly into   
the room after making sure no one was nearby. She opened the manila folder and began to   
read.   
Logan stared at his computer screen with a highly unpromising   
expression on his face. "According to their database, security has about tripled since the   
last time we paid a visit to dear old Manticore. In addition, most of the X-7 and X-3 units   
have been recalled and are actively patrolling the sector. Even with 4 of you, it doesn't   
seem like you have much chance of getting in and out with both Zack and everyone in one   
piece." "We can't afford to lose anyone else," Syl stated. "So with neither a full scale   
assault or infiltration procedure being a reasonably safe and viable option, what the hell   
else could we try?" Krit muttered, frustated and angry that a valuable family member was   
captured by the enemy and that there was nothing he could do about it. "I don't know   
about you guys, but I'm didn't come this far to back out now" Zane remarked, his voice a   
challenge to his fellow soldiers. "But you heard what Logan said. Trying to get into   
Manticore would be suicide" Krit said. He turned to the rest. "Any other ideas?" There   
was silence for a minute or two. Logan's mind debated the pros and cons of the decision   
he was about to make. |I never liked Max's big brother, I mean, him being such a   
controlling asshole and all, but I owe it to her to help them get him out, and I'd hate to see   
him becoming a brainwashed killing machine like Brin. Max would never forgive me. And   
they seem to be reasonably trust worthy people, but if any of them were to get captured by   
Manticore and interrogated, they might break and give away my identity...and that would   
be the end of Eyes Only and the informant net.| There were risks and consequences no   
matter what he decided. Finally he made his decision. "I think I might have a solution to   
our problem."   
  
Original Cindy strolled her bike into the entrance/exit for Jam Pony   
Express. Things just kept seeming to spiral downward ever since Max died, and where   
once her life had seemed so joyful and full of happiness, there was nothing left but an   
empty, aching hole once occupied by the vivacious young woman they all knew and loved.   
She smiled, thinking about Max's beautiful, vibrant features, how she loved to have fun,   
the crazy ass tricks she would pull at crash to earn their beer money, and how she was one   
of the best friends Cindy ever had in her life. But she was gone now. The others were   
feeling it too, Herbal tried to cheer everyone up with his messages of love and peace, and   
how a righteous individual like Max was surely in a better place. But he was as   
despondent as the rest of them. "Bip, bip, bip, get to work people!" Normal. Still a pain in   
the ass. For once Cindy wished he would just shut the hell up. And stop saying bip all the   
time. He promised not to ever use the phrase again when her and Max saved his ass from   
being defenestrated by those art thieves. |Maybe we should have just let him find out how   
far he could fly| she thought amusedly, thinking how wonderful life would be if she didn't   
have to listen to his obnoxious voice every morning. But she wouldn't be able to live with   
herself if she did that. She started to pick up a package when the TV on the opposite wall   
flashed and a familiar set of eyes lit up the screen. People gathered around to listen to the   
latest Eyes Only broadcast.   
  
"This is an Eyes Only Streaming Freedom video. The cable hack will last   
exactly 60 seconds. Eyes Only cannot be bought, sold, or corrupted. This data feed is for   
the director of Project Manticore, the secret government genetics experiment responsible   
for the creation of genetically enhanced humans. You have something that I want. And   
you will give it to me, unless you want me to expose all the dirty little secrets you've been   
hiding from those that back and fund your operation. The black fang incident is just the tip   
of the iceburg. Believe me, I have more than enough dirt to cause an end to your supply of   
funds and terminate the project permanently. If you value your job and the project itself,   
you will meet me at this address, at 6:30 tomorrow evening." The address flashed across   
the bottom of the screen in encrypted form. "I am willing to trade this information for   
what I want. Come alone or the deal is off. This message will replay itself every 30   
minutes for the next 8 hours. Peace. Out." "What the hell that boy up to?" Cindy   
whispered, having no idea what was going on. Sketchy was even more puzzled. "What's   
the deal with this Manticore thingy and these weird ass reports of superhumans? I smell a   
massive government conspiracy. Aliens must be involved too!" "Shutup you idiot." replied   
Cindy. Deep inside she wondered |what could Logan want from them black helicopter   
stormtrooper dudes anyway? Better drop by and check up on 'em before he gets his stupid   
ass killed.|   
  
"You sure this will work?" Syl asked. "Sure it will, after the destruction of   
the genetics lab and my recent expose on them, Manticore is close to getting shut down   
already. A few more interesting tidbits about their dirty little schemes and whoever's   
funding them will surely put an end to it all. "I just hope this works, man" Zane spoke   
hushedly. "Well, it's the best thing I can come up with. Let's just hope it can get us Zack."   
They all sat silently for a moment, wondering whether they could really succeed. No one   
recaptured by Manticore has ever gotten out again. Krit broke the silence. "Well, I guess   
we better be prepared when the time comes. How about me and Syl go stock up on   
weaponry and equipment while you two stay here and keep tabs on the situation" There   
was a nod of agreement and the two of them were about to leave when the doorbell rang.   
They all froze. "You expecting anyone?" Jondy asked Logan. "No" he replied in a puzzled   
tone. She then motioned for Zane to cover one side of the door while she took the other.   
Krit and Syl stood behind them, guns from their previous mission at the ready. "Open the   
door" she commanded. Logan did so and was astonished to find Cindy there. She opened   
her mouth, "Hi"— before Zane grabbed her by the shirt collar and slammed her against the   
wall. "What the hell!!! Who the hell are these people??? What with the guns? Put me   
down before Original Cindy lays the smackdown on your sorry ass!!!"  
  
Zane was stunned by the harsh response from this loudmouthed young   
black woman he had pinned up against the wall, but didn't loosen his grip. Logan stepped   
in. "It's okay, Zane. Let her down. She's a friend." Zane released his grip as the others   
untensed their muscles and loosened the trigger fingers. Cindy continued to wail at them.   
"What the hell was that about? Is that how you greet the mailman too?" Zane's face   
somewhat reddened along with the others. "We thought you might be someone else---"   
Logan began sheepishly. "You mean those black helicopter storm trooper guys? Do I look   
like a army grunt to you?" Krit suddenly became angry and demanding. "what do you   
know about" --- "I know about Max. You her peeps aren't you? The ones who all revved   
up and all? I know, she told me." Looking flustered Krit answered "yeah. I guess you   
could say that." Syl turned to Logan with a irritated look. "Exactly how many people   
know about us, between you and Max?" Logan smiled. "Just her and my personal trainer.   
Nothing serious. They're both trustworthy, no need to worry." She continued to stare at   
him. "Hey, if I trusted you enough to tell you about Eyes Only, then the least you could do   
is give Cindy here a chance. Going around all paranoid won't make you many friends."   
Her face softened a bit. "By the way, I never got the chance to thank you for what you did   
for us back when Lydecker got our locations---" "No need. I'm glad to help." Krit seemed   
a bit impatient. "Well, now that that's over with, let's go ahead with business, shall we?"   
"I want in." Cindy cried. "Tell me what's going down." Logan lead her into the next room   
to explain everything while the rest attended to their respective duties.  
  
"Yes. Yes Sir. Understood." Renfro hung up the phone and slammed her   
fist on the table. A nearby secretary jumped slightly. She turned to the nervous young man   
waiting patiently at the door of her office. "Lieutenant Jenkins, I have a mission for you."   
Her lips curved slightly upwards into the familiar sadistic grin and deceptively kind looking   
expression. It unnerved the lieutenant especially. He didn't know what it was, just that   
something in the way she looked and spoke suggested that she was a hungry jungle cat   
ready to devour it's prey. "I want you to round up 5 full TAC teams and have them ready   
by 0600 tommorrow evening. I also want two X5 units for support. Have them armed   
with tazer's, concussion grenades, and standard firearms. I want them ready to move in   
the minute I say go. Screw this up and I'll have your head mounted on my living room   
wall. Is that clear?" "Yes Sir!" the young soldier shouted, a chill running through his body   
as he spoke. He exited out the door, leaving Renfro alone with her thoughts. |So that Eyes   
Only bastard thinks he can blackmail us. I wonder what he wants? Money? Technology?   
But what good would that do him? I've got more than a passing suspicion that he's   
connected to the rogues X5's somehow. But how? And why? Suddenly a thought struck   
her. Max Guevera. He was somehow connected with Max....X5-452, that was her name,   
wasn't it? Max. He first came after us saying we had killed her. So he must be in league   
with the rogue fivers. So they think she's dead. She to laugh gleefully, the beauty of the   
situation becoming ever more apparent to her. She knew what she had to do to nab Eyes   
Only. And if she was lucky, at least a few rouge X5's as well.   
  
"So basically you went through all this damn trouble to rescue my boo's   
jerk-ass big brother." "Yeah" Logan replied. "That's basically it. I, mean, I don't like the   
guy either, but that doesn't mean I can just let him rot in that hellhole for the rest of his   
life. Max would hate me if I stood by and did nothing." "Is there anything Original Cindy   
can do to help?" "What?" "Like you said, sure the boy might be a real ass, but that don't   
mean he deserve to rot back there. And I owe it to my boo. She saved my life once, in   
case you've forgotten. This be the least Cindy can do for her girl." "Thanks Cindy.   
There's nothing you can really do right now, but your free to stick around, even though   
it's could get real dangerous—" "Original Cindy ain't scared of no danger. Besides, better   
than sticking around work having Normal bitch at me." Logan smiled. Max's friend had   
spirit, he'd give her that. "I just hope that Zack hasn't been turned already---" "Don't be   
stupid" Zane interjected. "This is Zack we're talking about. He'd kill himself first." "You   
can't be sure." He remembered how Max described Brin going back to Manticore to save   
her life. |They may say they would rather die than go back, but when it comes right down   
to it, will he really choose death over Manticore? Guess it's a risk we'll have to take, since   
his family is taking no such talk of their great leader turning traitor. Syl and Krit entered   
the apartment. "We're ready" Syl stated firmly. "Come down and take a look." They all   
stepped on a elevator leading to the parking garage, where the two lead them to a white   
van. Inside it was a small arsenal of submachine guns, assault rifles, pistols, and ammo,   
complete with grenades and kevlar vests. Cindy whistled. "Satisfactory, don't you think"   
Krit spoke grinningly. "If they try anything, we'll be ready."   



	5. Betrayal

  
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dark Angel, don't sue my ass, you'll get   
nothing.  
  
Rating:R   
  
  
Renfro walked through the cold, wet rain, moisture glistening off the   
umbrella over her head and dripping in a circular drizzle around her. |He sure picked a hell   
of a night for this meeting. A real shithole of a place too.| She was surrounded by low   
lying, decrepit old buildings, most of them pre-pulse, with paint and chunks of brick   
peeling off their skin, graffitti blasted with dark spray paint covering every solid surface.   
The ground she walked on was a haphazard mixture of dirty, torn up newspapers,   
cigarette butts, unidentifiable food scraps that reeked of prolonged exposure to the   
elements, and the occasional cat droppings that were left by strays that wandered the area   
pilfering the garbage. Carefully avoiding the assorted litter, her expensive designer heels   
clicking against the blacktop, she made her way to a small unmarked building in the near   
the end of the alley. She pulled open the door and entered into a fairly well lit room devoid   
of most furnishings save for a chair and a table with a computer monitor perched on top of   
it. The monitor flashed to life, the familiar deep blue eyes appearing on screen...|just the   
eyes, unfortunately. But then again, I didn't think he would be stupid enough to show his   
face.| "Did you come along as requested?" "Yes. Nice place you got here. Can't help but   
admire the elegant decor." She folded her arms as she took her seat. "So what was it that   
you wanted to discuss with me?" The eyes narrowed a bit, a barely concealed indignation   
and fury underlying grim determination. "I want to discuss terms for the release of X5-  
599, aka Zack." She smiled a bit. Fool didn't know, as she suspected. "I'm afraid that's   
not possible. X5-599 is currently deceased. He self-terminated in order for us to give his   
heart for transplant in order to save the life of another X5 we currently have in custody.  
  
Logan's face lit up in shock at the news. |Zack is dead? We came all this   
way for nothing? What, who's that other X5 she was talking about? someone Zack would   
die to save? Max...no it can't be, I watched her die in my arms!" The others in the room   
reacted with an equal amount of surprise. "Zack is dead? What the hell are we going to   
do?" Jondy exclaimed, the shock and fear emanating powerfully from her voice. "No, it's   
not possible!" Krit cried out. "This is Zack we're talking about! He's got to be okay! He   
can't just die on us!" Syl stood with her mouth half open, a dumbfounded look on her   
face. |He killed himself to save one of us? I mean, I knew he cared about his family, always   
putting his own ass on the line to keep us safe, gave up any semblance of a normal life to   
look out for us, but I had no idea...| The incredible sacrifice was not lost on any of them.   
Meanwhile, on the other side of the line, Renfro waited for them to respond, carefully   
judging their reaction as to glean as much information as she could. Then Logan recovered   
quickly from his shock and spoke once more. "Who's life did he save?" Renfro gave a   
short chuckle. "I believe you already know this individual. X5-452. Max, correct?" She   
smiled as the silence on the other side broke into a whirlwind of whispers and some rather   
loud whoops of joy and unbridled elation.   
  
|I can't believe it,| Logan thought. |Max is alive. It wasn't just a feeling   
after all.| Then, abruptly, he spoke harshly into the microphone. "How do I know your   
telling the truth? That this just isn't some kind of sick game that you're playing." "Do you   
wish me to show you? They watched carefully as she took out a cell phone and called.   
"Bring the specimen in." She turned to face the confused and skeptical eyes staring back at   
her through the monitor. 'She'll be transported here shortly." Back at the penthouse, Zane   
spoke. "How do we know if any of what that bitch says is true, that she's not just playing   
mind games with us?" "Simple. We don't. Anyway, I don't see how us believing this could   
work out in her favor. She knows that if she doesn't deliver either Max or Zack to us, then   
I'll definitely let the whole world in on Project Manticore." On the other side of the line,   
Renfro was growing impatient by the silence that came from the equipment before her.   
There came a knock on the door. Two Manticore guards dragged in a unconscious Max.   
Logan and the others were shocked to see her in such a disheveled and broken state. She   
wore a dull blue hospital gown and her face was covered with cuts and bruises. It seemed   
that she had been beaten and tortured. They turned her around and lifted her hair to give a   
good look at the barcode on the back of her neck. It was Max all right, hurt and beat up   
but alive nonetheless. Logan could not express his joy at seeing his beloved Max once   
again. In the background, Syl and Krit shared a hug as the other two stared, mouths   
gaping at the sight of their supposedly long gone sister. |She's alive.| Jondy just stood, her   
features frozen like ice. |Maxie is alive. She looks so different, but it's her, I know. I could   
never forget my little sister. Hang in there Maxie. We're going to get you out of there.|   
  
"Now I'm willing to trade her instead of 599, who is still valuable as a   
research specimen, but how do I know you'll keep up your end of the bargain?" "I'll hand   
the files over to you at the same time we get max." Logan replied. "How do I know that   
you're giving me everything?" She demanded. "And how do we know you don't have a   
million copies in your basement? "How do I know that you'll return her to us as you   
promised?" Renfro stared intensely into the shining blue ovals. "Guess we'll just have to   
trust each other won't we? Her words were slow and measured, with a glint of malice in   
those slightly paler blue eyes. "Guess so." The enigmatic Eyes Only stared back with an   
equal amount of distrust and animosity. "Meet me and my associates down by the   
waterfront, pier 21. 3:00 p.m sharp. Once again, you'd better not be pulling any tricks."   
She smiled in reply, a abrupt and slightly demonic grin. "Believe me, good sir. I am way   
above such devious behavior. She heard a snort in response. "Whatever."  
  
"My boo is alive! I knew them fuckin black chopper goons couldn't beat a   
tough ass suga like Max!" "Yeah I guess she is." Logan never felt so rejuvenated and   
anxious to see someone in his entire life. He would give anything to see her in person once   
more, to hold her, to touch her soft skin, and to hear her crack one of her smart ass   
comments at him. Memories flooded his brain of the time they first kissed, an electric   
tingling running through the whole of his then crippled body. "MAXIE'S COMING   
HOME GUYS!" One of the siblings screamed, his voice barely penetrating the gorgeous   
vibes pouring into Logan's brain. "We're not out of the woods yet." Syl stated calmly.   
"hate to break the great mood everyone's in, but in case you haven't noticed, we still have   
to facilitate the transfer." Everyone calmed down noticeably. She was right. They weren't   
out of the woods yet. Zane moved over to the motley pile of firearms located on a living   
room table. "Better get ready. Knowing Manticore, they probably definitely have   
something up their sleeve."   
  
Guns and ammunition exchanged hands as they each suited up for the   
upcoming mission. Syl handed a glock 9mm to Logan and a vest. Cindy started to helped   
herself to a gun and vest. Logan turned towards her. "What do you think you're doing?"   
"What does it look like? I'm going with you guys." "No you're not." Stated Syl firmly.   
We're already taking enough risk by bringing him along," gesturing to Logan. "We don't   
need any more civies tagging along and jeopardizing things." Cindy met her hard gaze   
with a fiercely determined look. "My boo is out there, and I'm not gonna sit back here and   
trust you soldier folks to bring her back. I'm going. Period." Syl matched her gaze for a   
moment, and then gave in. "Alright. Just stay out of the way. And don't shoot yourself in   
the foot." Cindy returned a contemptuous glance. She sure as hell wasn't that   
incompetent.  
  
The wind caressed Jondy's hair with a faint, whispery breeze accompanied   
by the scent of sea water and dead fish. She gripped her MP5-3A carefully, making sure it   
cocked and ready to rumble. The sky was clear and luminescent, sunlight bouncing off of   
her golden locks. It was a beautiful day, and the sound off gulls echoed from beyond the   
pier where there bodies were prone and silent, awaiting the arrival of Manticore and their   
long lost sister. Jondy would like to think about Max now, to remember the times they   
shared in that dark, cold institution, where the only solace and comfort they found was in   
the company of each other. But she couldn't, she had to focus on the mission now. The   
mission was to make sure Max got home safe and unharmed. To do that she had to shut   
off the emotions inside of her, the warmth and happiness, the unbridled giddiness of a little   
girl who was about to reunite with her childhood playmate. She looked behind her to a   
pile of crates lying on the dock, behind which Zane was ready to provide cover fire. Her   
eyes shifted to her right, where Syl cradled her .50 caliber sniper rifle in a firing stance, in   
the adjacent building of where the transfer would take place. She caught the slight hand   
movement from the half broken window, indicating that she was ready. Her eyes darted   
over to Krit, sensing a mind-numbing wave of anticipation and impatience emanating from   
his eyes as he bore the M4A1 with a 30mm grenade launcher and clung it hard to his   
chest. A little in front of them both was Logan, as nervous and scared as the rest of them,   
only he didn't do such a good job of hiding it. Her eyes turned one more time towards   
Cindy, who lay in the back seat of the Aztec, staring intently at her from her vantage point   
far behind them. She breathed a sigh of relief as the black van and a hummer pulled up   
onto the pier.  
  
Manticore special ops troopers clambered out of the van, their weapons   
lowered but ready, their body movements suggesting a similar tension pulsating through   
each of their minds. The doors of the hummer also opened, and out came a large guard in   
full combat gear, followed by a another similar man who helped him drag a barely   
conscious Max between them, her hands and feet securely cuffed and manacled as they   
half dragged her to the center of the wooden boards, her chains making rasping metallic   
noises as they brushed against each other. Seeing her livid bruises and broken expression   
in person as she stood their like a pathetic little puppet wanted to make Jondy scream at   
those who did this to her, to open fire and tear the bastards apart. Her eyes swerved over   
to Zane, who fought to keep his face stoic and unyielding. |Got to keep cool, wouldn't do   
to start something stupid, now would it?| she reminded herself. The guards pulled Max up   
to Logan, whose jaw quivered and whose hands balled tightly into fists at the sight of his   
beloved and the treatment that she had recieved. The leader's cold hard eyes glared into   
his. "You got the files?" "Yes" Logan started to hand over the folder as the guards shoved   
Max towards him. The folder passed into the man's hands. He quickly tore open the folder   
and began to skim through the information. He then stopped, satisfied. "Let her go." The   
guards behind him pushed Max straight into Logan's waiting arms, where he looked   
directly into her scarred but still beautiful face, simply holding her for a moment, inhaling   
the scent of her, the memories of her presence pouring their way back into his mind.   
Meanwhile, Krit breathed a sigh of relief. |looks like we're going to get out of this without   
incident.| As logan gently helped her back towards the waiting aztec, a young soldier at   
the back dropped his sidearm in a clumsy effort to scratch himself. A single gunshot   
echoed throughout the harbor, and all hell broke loose.   
  
Jondy held down the trigger on her gun and painted the contingent of black   
clad troops in front of her with a hailstorm of 9mm rounds, instantly dropping the three of   
them, including the leader, while speeding sideways and back towards the nearest cover.   
Almost at the same time, Krit released a grenade into the hummer, and nearby troopers   
futilely tried to escape the resulting explosion as it fireballed outwards from the target and   
engulfed several of them, sending one flying off the pier and into the icy water below. In   
the midst of the confusion that reigned among the enemy as they desperately tried to   
reconnoiter and return fire, Syl sent a .50 caliber round into the head of one man,   
exploding it like a overripe watermelon, splattering his comrades with red gore. One of   
them lifted his rifle and attempted to put a few rounds into the multilimbed figure of   
Logan entangled with Max as they struggled to escape the scene before them. Logan saw   
the movement and reached for the pistol at his belt, but the trooper was quickly met with   
another .50 cal shot to the throat, vaporizing his neck and sending his decapitated head   
flying into the air only to land and roll off his crumbled body. In the space between, Zane   
was sending the other troopers running for cover from the 5.56 mm rounds he spewed   
their way, striking a few and leaving only a few standing as fire from his siblings continued   
to pin down and kill those soldiers still remaining unharmed. Krit pulled the pin of a   
grenade and threw it onto the hood of the van, which bounced for a second or two before   
landing on the ground and creating a blast that wiped both the van and the two soldiers   
hiding behind it off this plane of existence. The remaining troopers made a hasty and   
terrified retreat, and Syl hesitated to put another bullet into one's back as Logan got Max   
into the car with the help of cindy. and the others sped for their own vehicle and rushed to   
join them. The two vehicles sped off around some buildings and into the distance, leaving   
a chaotic medley of blood, flames, and dismembered and charred bodies in their wake.   
  
She awoke in the comforting arms of Logan, who hugged her tightly and   
seemed he would never release her till the end of the world. Weakly, she returned his   
strong, passionate embrace and met his lips with her own for one glorious and prolonged   
moment of bliss. It agonized her to withdraw her mouth from his after about a minute that   
seemed like a eternity of supreme happiness and comfort. She placed her head over his   
shoulder to stare at her rescuers, first absorbing the features of Krit, then Syl, Zane, and   
finally Jondy, her old friend Jondy, grown into a beautiful young woman, her golden locks   
pouring freely over her greatly matured face, topped off with her delicate green eyes that   
softly spoke of how much they had missed her. "Jondy? God! I never thought I'd see   
you—" The green eyed blond walked up and interrupted her in midsentence. "Sshhh. It's   
okay. We're all here now Maxie. You're going to be alright." They each hugged her with   
the same tightness that Logan held her with, and she could feel the grief and pain washing   
away from them as her arms wrapped around each member of her family. When she finally   
embraced Jondy, she whispered "Too bad Zack isn't here." "Yeah. Looking out for his   
squad to the bitter end, huh?" Max merely nodded and her eyes gave way to tears the   
same time her sister's did, their sadness being fully yet silently released as the others stared   
quietly at the ages old bond of friendship shared between the two young women on the   
couch. "What up boo?" Max looked into the eyes of a much more recent friend. "Cindy!"   
she reached over and hugged her favorite boo, the tears continuing to flow from her eyes.   
It was too much. Too much to take all at once. Yet here she was, once again with her   
family and the people that loved her.  
  
In the midst of all the celebration, X5-452 reached for the small   
communication device latched onto her wrist. She turned her arm over and smiled. The   
tracking beacon was active, giving the coordinates of the penthouse to the folks back   
home. An outburst of emotion had overwhelmed her from the moment she awoke to find   
them around her, but now her mind cleared and she remembered her mission. |How   
stupidly foolish of me for that to happen. They always taught us emotions were   
counterproductive to the goal and would only result in getting your ass killed.| She   
frowned now, realizing how she forgot who she was. A soldier. |Well, at least they bought   
it. They won't suspect a thing until we're right on top of them.| She was proud of what   
she was about to do. |It's time to correct the mistake we made 11 years ago. It's time to   
bring them back home. Back to Manticore, where we belong.| She looked behind her one   
last time before sending the signal to attack.   
  
The words on the laptop in front of her pleased Renfro to no end. |She's   
come through for us, just like I knew she would.| She congratulated herself on the   
successful reprogramming of one of the most resilient escapees they had ever encountered.   
They had gone through a hell of a lot of trouble and work to get 452 to see things the way   
they wanted her to, and to set things up so that she would be in a prime position to lead   
them to Eyes Only and the rogue X5's. And now all that work was going to pay off. |Big   
time. Our dear Mr. Cale and his genetically engineered companions won't know what hit   
them. The committee will be pleasantly surprised. Now I'm going to succeed where the   
late Col. Donald Lydecker failed. I'm going to bring in 4 of his kids in one fell swoop,   
where he succeeded in bringing in only one through pure luck and a good 11 years worth   
of searching. And the elusive Eyes Only as well.| She could almost hear the praises of the   
committee once they heard about the good news. |I think you deserve a promotion,   
Director Renfro. You're successful efforts and pure dedication to this program merit the   
best benefits that we can offer.| She turned to Lt. Jenkins, who stood ready like a hound   
on a leash. "Mobilize the troops. We're going in." She got up and reached for her coat.   
She wanted to be there to see the look on their faces when they discover who ratted them   
out.   
  
  
  
  



	6. Bang!!!

  
  
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, blah,blah,blah  
Rating: R  
  
Max slipped the small black device back into her shirt sleeve. |No turning   
back now. But why the hell would I want to turn back? I'm just doing my duty to   
Manticore, my duty as a soldier. I'm doing what's best for my family. I'm sending them   
home, where they belong, back to the place and people we were stupid enough to abandon   
back in '09.| She mentally cursed herself out for even questioning for one short moment   
the rightness in her actions. |I'm a soldier, I don't question, I do what I'm told. Besides,   
they'll thank me for this, I know they will.| "There you are! What are you doing running   
off like that? Aren't you going to talk with us?" Logan was standing behind her with a   
somewhat bemused look. She turned her head and smiled. "Sure." She followed him back   
into the living room where her family was waiting. Zane stared at her. "You know, you   
gave us all a fucking hell of a scare for a while. You really shouldn't go around letting   
people think your dead." "Yeah." Jondy said. "I really don't know what I'd do if I lost you   
to those bastards." Max smiled . "Glad to know someone cares. And for a while I thought   
I'd wind up like Brin. Thanks for bailing me out." |Too bad they don't know I already am   
at that point. Hope they can come to their senses too.| "No problem, Maxie. You'd do the   
same for me."   
  
The emerald green lights of her eyes lit up as she smiled her delight. A smile   
Max had once seen on a young girl of 9, a smile that would drive the pain and misery from   
her consciousness after a hard day of drills and endless lessons on tactics, a smile that   
would calm her and make things better whenever she had another seizure or she was afraid   
for someone close to them. All a sudden she wondered how that smile would hold up   
when it's wearer was back in the cold, black-blue, lifeless walls of their childhood home,   
with that familiar air of oppression and entrapment--|No! Stop it, Damn you! You're   
doing the right thing! She might be resistant at first, but--| Her train of thought was   
mercifully interrupted when the she heard a noise similar to that of the door being blown   
off it's hinges.  
  
Krit burst into the room with two bottles of champagne in one hand and   
several 6-packs in the other. The earsplitting sound of him slamming the door was the only   
thing that alerted the room's occupants to his presence. "OKAY, WHO WANTS SOME   
HARD LIQUOR!" Syl stared at him in shock along with the rest of the group. "Jesus,   
Krit, what are you trying to do, give us all a freakin heart attack?" Krit grew slightly   
irritated. "Sheesh, you're welcome. He held up the the bottles of champagne. Don't you   
have any idea how hard it is to get your hands on some of this stuff in a economically   
depressed country? The least you could do is say thank you." "Thanks" she replied,   
helping herself to a bottle of Heineken. The others all rushed to fetch themselves some   
quality booze. Logan first grabbed a beer bottle, then headed over to the front door to   
inspect it for damage. |Not even so much as chipped paint.| He thought. |Thank god.|   
Meanwhile, Jondy uncapped the champagne and began to enthusiastically spray it into the   
faces of Krit, Syl, and Zane. |Christ, I hope that stuff washes off the carpet. Hope they   
don't have too much and end up wrecking the furniture. Remind me to be more careful the   
next time Max's family decides to pay a visit.|   
  
His thoughts turned to Max. |surely she must be happy now that she's back   
with her family again.| But he spied her sitting quietly on the sofa, unmoving, her mind off   
in space. She hadn't touched the alcohol, and he knew Max wasn't the type to refuse a   
drink. She seemed to be upset about something, her eyes refusing to meet his, as if she had   
some big dark secret tearing her apart from the inside out. He walked next to her, noting   
the eerie way she didn't acknowledge his presence even as he stood in front of her. He   
opened his mouth to speak. "Max is something wrong? Max? Max!" "What's with her?"   
Krit asked, his mood suddenly serious and questioning. All 8 pairs of eyes came to rest on   
their baby sister. |What did those bastards do to her?| Logan wondered. He opened his   
mouth to speak. Suddenly, without warning, the front door of the apartment exploded   
inward in a flash of blinding yellow-red light and flame. Logan could feel the heat of the   
blast rushing towards him like a speeding train. The hot, burning tendrils of flame   
threatened to reach out and devour him like some kind of hideous monster. He opened his   
mouth to yell, to scream. But he couldn't. He couldn't even breathe as time itself seemed   
to almost stop at that one terrifying moment, and the force of the explosion propelled his   
body backwards into the room like a flimsy paper mache doll before it subsided into a   
cloud of smoke and translucent shadows. And then there were the sound of voices   
shouting and dark, wraithlike demon figures descending upon them as if they had risen   
from the very pits of hell.   
  
Brin could hardly see through the smoke caused by the explosive charge   
they had laid on the door and the large mass of black clad troops that constituted TAC   
team Alpha 1. Eva stood beside her, peering through the gray smoke and shredded bits of   
wood and furniture, trying to use her enhanced vision to pick out their targets. Team   
Alpha 2 brushed their way past the two X5's and joined the first group. The two women   
watched as the 2 teams frantically yet systematically and efficiently moved to secure the   
objective, guns and tazers out, bodies rushing about like hungry wolves drawn to the scent   
of frightened prey. One of the team leaders peered into a corner of the room and saw a   
30ish man with glasses lying dazed on the floor. "Over here! I found---" his words were   
cut short when Zane suddenly lashed out of the murky smoke and wrapped his arms   
around the man's throat and pulled him back into it's depths. About a quarter of a second   
later there was the sound of a neck breaking. Others in the immediate vicinity trained their   
weapons at the sound of the noise and opened fire, submachine gun rounds shattering a   
table and leaving pock marks along one wall. "Cease fire, dammit! We want them alive!"   
Brin called out to the two teams. Her eyes darted across the room to a multilimbed figure   
rapidly making it's way to the nearest window. Before anyone else could react, she had   
fired a tazer dart deep into the back of Zane who was carrying a barely conscious Logan.   
Zane cried out and stumbled for a moment before the tazer darts of 3 others found their   
way into his back and legs, sending him crumbling to the ground, limbs failing like one   
having an epilectic seizure.  
  
"NO!" Jondy leapt from her position in the kitchen and laid down a   
withering rain of fire, driving back the black clad goons while flying towards the crumbled   
form of Logan and Zane. One soldiers stepped into her path and raised his tazer gun to   
fire. Blindingly fast, she launched one kick the sent the device flying from his grip, and   
then with her other leg, a hurricane kick that crushed his checkbones and sent him flying   
into the wall, blood spurting from the side of his face and mouth as the impact cracked the   
wall hard with his skull. He slumped to the ground as she gathered the two men up, only   
to have Eva dash like a bullet across the room and land a blow to her chin that cracked the   
bone and sent her sprawling across the floor. Before she could recover, Eva had produced   
her tazer and shot her in the chest with it, followed by the tazer darts of several guards.   
Pain streaking through every cavity of her body, Jondy slumped into unconsciousness on   
the wooden floor.  
  
"Come on! Lets go!" Syl yelled at Krit who had paused to look at the   
horrific scene behind them. "We can't just leave them!" he yelled back at her. "It's too   
late! If we don't move now they'll get us too!" she shouted while smashing the window   
with a nearby stool. She leapt out of the newly formed hole and dropped down onto a   
lower floor balcony. Krit moved to follow her when suddenly a leg connected with his   
ankle and knocked him to the ground. He fought off the sudden pain and struggled to rise   
when Max flew on top of him and delivered a swift punch to his forehead. Stunned, he   
tried to throw a punch at her, only to have it caught and his arm twisted around, flipping   
him on his belly and causing severe pain as she twisted and dislocated his shoulder.   
"Aghhh! What the hell are you---" He was unable to finish the sentence as she brought her   
hand down on his neck in a powerful chop and everything faded to black.   
  
X5-452 looked out the window to find that the last target was rapidly   
making her way down the series of balconies and fire escapes. X5-868 moved to her side.   
"Call in Bravo 2. They should be ready for her when she hits the ground." Eva nodded and   
spoke the orders into the transmitter. She was quickly done and they both turned their   
attention to Logan, who was now being held up by two soldiers and looking at Max with a   
mixture of downright horror and shock. "Max? Max! What the hell are you doing? What   
the hell is going---" He stopped talking when one of the soldiers slugged him in the back   
with a rifle butt. The exoskeleton creaked a bit as he sagged towards the ground, only to   
be jerked upright by the two men that held his arms. He raised his head to look once more   
into Max's face. And he saw nothing. The beautiful face before him was cold, blank,   
devoid of any emotion, unyielding of any answers. It merely stared at him without the   
merest hint of the love and affectionate yearning he had seen on the same face mere   
moments ago. |Max?| "My god." He had reached the realization that he should have   
suspected this to happen all along. |But this is Max we're talking about, it can't be, she   
would never go back to them, she would never be one of their sol--| But the truth was   
there, staring at him directly in the face, unblinking and harsh beyond words. In the end he   
could only mutter weakly..."They've turned you haven't they?" The stranger in front of   
him spoke with an icy calm in her voice. "They made me see who I am." "Listen to me   
Max, you don't have to do what they say, you don't have to be their slave, try to   
remember who you really---" He was cut off by another blow to the back. And he caught   
his breath to stare into those soulless brown eyes once more. Max was dead, and the   
monster from his dream had taken her place...   
  
Sweat beginning to pour down her brow, Syl made it to the lowest balcony   
of the building. |just one more leap, then I'm home free.| She looked up to find no sign of   
Krit behind her. |Shit!!! No time to worry about that now, got to keep--| The sound of   
wheels skidding to a stop to the right of her made her made her freeze. She instinctively   
turned to her left only to find herself facing the barrel of a tazer gun held by a soldier not   
10 feet from her position. Her eyes flashed past him to find 4 more all pointing their   
weapons at her. She turned to her right to find that yet 5 more soldiers had climbed out of   
a humvhee and were pointing weapons at her. |What the fucking hell.| Legs pushing with   
all her might, she took a flying leap over the railing of the balcony as the electrical darts   
streaked towards the place where she was standing and flew in a arc towards her as she   
soared through the air. The last one embedded itself into her foot but somehow failed to   
penetrate her shoes. She hit the ground hands first and bent her head down to land neatly   
into a foward roll. The closest soldier on her right attempted to get a shot off as she   
crouched there for half a second, but the gun refused to fire, as if by some divine act of   
god. The soldier cursed and struggled to unjam his weapon as his buddies lifted theirs.  
Wasting no time and moving with a speed and energy she had never known, even on the   
night of the escape, she dashed straight at one of the guards to her left and grabbed the   
arm of the surprised man who flailed uselessly against her steel grip as she pulled the arm   
over his shoulder while getting behind him. The darts fired by his comrades were meant   
for her but instead embedded themselves into her hapless human shield. While team Bravo   
2 stared in horror as one of their own screamed in pain from the thousands of volts of   
electricity that coursed through him, Syl blazed across the street, leaping across the hoods   
of cars, and disappeared as a large truck obscured her from their sights.  
  
"So. This is the ever elusive Eyes Only." Renfro gave Logan her best   
sinister grin as she entered the apartment and fixed her eyes on him. "So wonderful to   
finally meet you." Logan grinned, his face somewhat distorted due to the pain of the   
beating the soldiers gave him for trying to resist. "I believe the pleasure is all mine." Max   
continued to stare at him from the corner of the room. Her expression still seemed empty..   
|Or was it?| There was something in her eyes that sparked a small flame of hope within his   
chest. For about an instant she looked at him like the woman he knew long before he had   
lost her in the forest that fateful night, before she became the monster who had led them   
all into a trap. She seemed to stare at him with a detectable hint of concern and some of   
the love he saw in her the night she kissed him for the second time on the living room   
floor... And then she turned away. |Maybe it's too much to hope for.| Renfro continued to   
speak. "I must admit, you've caused both us and many others considerable amounts of   
trouble with those broadcasts of yours. I'll be honest, Mr. Cale. You've been a real pain in   
the ass to well, pretty much everyone." "Glad to know I'm so popular." Her smile faded a   
bit as she changed her expression to a chilling look of deadly malice that actually made   
Logan feel a shiver crawling all over his skin. "Too bad things end here for you. I wonder   
how much your enemies would pay me to hand your ass over on a silver platter? You   
think we should start the bidding at 15 million?" Logan gave a grim smile. "You crazy?   
That would be an insult." Renfro laughed out loud, her cruel features taunting him as he   
stood there helplessly before his impending doom. "But I think I have a much better idea."  
  
Logan's heart froze. "And what could that be?" he asked nervously. The   
blond bitch gestured towards max. "X5-452. I believe you have, or should I say had, a   
very close personal relationship with this particular specimen of ours correct?" "HER   
NAME IS MAX! GODDAMN YOU!" "Whatever. Well, who better then to carry out   
your execution?" She turned to Max. "X5-452, shoot this man." Brin handed Max a side   
arm which she proceeded to cock and point directly at Logan's chest. He stared deep into   
those beautiful almond eyes. "Max, I know you don't want to do this. You don't have to   
do this. Don't you remember me? Don't you remember what we had together? Please.   
Don't listen to this bitch." "Do it, X5-452. Do it for Manticore. Do it for your family."   
"NO MAX, DON'T! REMEMBER WHEN WE FIRST MET? REMEMBER ALL   
THOSE DAYS AND NIGHTS WE SPENT PLAYING CHESS AND HAVING   
DINNER? REMEMBER HOW YOU HELPED ME WHEN I COULDN'T WALK?"  
"DO IT, SOLDIER! FAILURE TO OBEY IS TO BETRAY MANTICORE! DON'T   
MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN!" Logan could see her indecision, the conflicting   
voices battling it out inside her for dominance and control. Her finger tightened on the   
trigger.   
  
"REMEMBER HOW YOU SAID YOU'D RATHER DIE THAN GO   
BACK THERE? YOU REMEMBER WHAT THOSE BASTARDS DID TO YOU? YOU   
DON'T TO BE THEIR PUPPET, DAMMIT! FIGHT THEM! FOR ME, FOR YOUR   
FAMILY! FOR ZACK!" The mention of the name stirred something inside of her. His   
hope grew as he saw more and more of the Max he knew breaking through the scales of   
the monster they trapped her under. The soul of the woman he knew started to come back   
into those almond colored eyes. "Shoot the bastard soldier. That is a direct order."   
Looking deep into the brown eyes one last time, Logan spoke calmly, a soothing ocean in   
his words. "I love you Max. I've always loved you. And no matter what happens, I always   
will. Then, for one blissful, glorious moment, the eyes of X5-452 became those of Max   
Guevera once more. Logan could have screamed for joy. | SHE'S STILL IN THERE!   
MAX IS STILL IN THERE! I KNEW THEY COULD'NT BREAK---"|   
  
And then the features of that angelic face folded back into those of the   
demonic creature from his dream, and he heard a loud bang as a hot metal object slammed   
into his chest.   
  
  
Note: I worked extremely hard on this chapter, so please give me some feedback. 


	7. Irreversible decision

  
Rating:R  
  
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine.  
  
A wisp of smoke drifted from the muzzle of the gun. Max's hand quivered   
a bit, then dropped the weapon onto the floor. Her lifeless brown pupils echoed the finality   
of the act, the ultimate severing of her past life from the being that she now was. Logan   
lay on the carpet, blue eyes wide open, unblinking. The last part of her humanity lay on the   
carpet, his body no doubt getting cold already. No sign of life emanated from his still   
form. "Pack up the captures and move out." Renfro ordered. "I want us back at base by   
1100 hours." The soldiers in the room proceeded to handcuff and chain up Krit, Jondy,   
and Zane. The large group moved orderly out of the apartment, dragging the helpless   
forms of their captives with them. Max and Brin joined them. As they walked, Brin looked   
over at her sister. Something had changed. She was so different from the girl she   
remembered when they were just kids, so different from the young woman she had known   
for but a few days but had grown intimately close to when they captured her. Where once   
there was a fire, a burning bright flame of determination and strength in those eyes, there   
remained nothing. Nothing but a deep sadness, a complete and shallow emptiness where   
her sister Max used to be. It was as if she had died with that man back in that shattered,   
smoke filled room.   
  
"What the hell do you mean the subject got away?" Renfro growled   
angrily at the leader of Bravo 2 as the man nervously avoided eye contact and shifted his   
weight on one foot. "You mean to that you were right there at the bottom waiting for her,   
and she still managed to get away? You fucking idiot!" "Sorry Sir, she was just too fast,   
and Robertsons' gun jammed--" "Save me your pitiful excuses. I'll decide what to do with   
you when we get back. Rest of you move out." She turned from him and checked on the   
status of the prisoners. All healthy, not too badly injured. |Well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad,   
considering. They should make excellent new additions to the program.| They began   
loading the captures into two separate vans. Brin and Max would take Zane and Jondy in   
one vehicle, Eva and another group of guards would take Krit in another van. She gave   
orders to have them heavily sedated at all times and to make sure they were strapped   
down tight. Brin directed a thoughtful and concerned stare towards the two she had been   
assigned to escort before getting inside the driver's seat with Max next to her. The small   
army of black hummers and vans sped off into the cold black night.  
  
Syl dashed through the darkness, her eyes adjusting easily to the lack of   
illumination. She looked around her. No sign of the black clad TAC troopers, but no signs   
of Max or Krit or any of the others. |I can only hope they were as lucky as I was.| She   
briefly entertained the possibility that they may be dead or captured, but quickly pushed it   
out of her mind. |Can't think like that. Got to hope for the best. Question is, how the hell   
did those bastards find us anyway?| She stopped running, catching her breath and taking in   
her surroundings more carefully. The street was dirty and covered with torn newspapers   
and garbage, structures surrounding her covered with grafitti and rotting decay. A   
homeless man sat in the corner, his hat lying upside down on the pavement, a futile plead   
for spare change. |Not much different from Sacramento. Poverty and despair, people living   
on the street, martial law enforced by dirty cops, what else is new?| Suddenly she felt like   
falling to the ground and crying. She always had an urge to break down in tough   
situations, even more so now since she had none of her siblings to rely on. |Feeling sorry   
for yourself won't accomplish anything| her mind shouted at her. |Got to keep moving| But   
where to? She had no place to go. What the hell was she going to do?   
  
|I didn't see any of them leaving the building, so they must be—No. It can't   
be. It all happened so fast, there were too many of them, if we--| There was no time for   
if's. She had to decide what to do next. |Might as well lay low and wait for them to stop   
looking...then maybe, just maybe I can find a way to get them out of there.| It was the best   
idea she could come up with, given the circumstances. Rage and helplessness surged   
through her chest as she realized she could do nothing to help them. Then she remembered   
Logan. Maybe he was still alive. Maybe he could help her. Sure, they might have greased   
him to cover things up, and they definitely would have killed him if they found out about   
Eyes, but... it was a lot to hope for, but if he was still alive, he was the only person who   
could help her get the others back. Besides, they left a lot of equipment and cash back at   
his place. She needed transportation too. Then again, they might be waiting for her back   
there. |And why would they do that?| Still, to be on the safe side, she decided to wait a   
couple hours before heading back. She walked a couple of blocks down towards South   
Market. If they were still looking for her, she could hide in the crowd. She pressed her   
way through the bustling and noisy bodies and entered a coffee shop. She ordered a cup to   
calm her nerves, while noting that there were two back exits in addition to the one she   
came in. She would wait here until she felt it was safe to head back.  
  
"You alright boo?" Logan stirred a bit, inhaling deeply, his nostrils flaring   
from the smell of dust and freshly spent bullets. Pain ran in shockwaves across his chest.   
|Why the hell does it hurt so much?| Then he remembered. Max had shot him. Part of him   
still refused to accept it, to believe that Max would turn against him and her family to   
serve the bastards responsible for her traumatic childhood. |It can't be. Got to be another   
dream. Got to be. If I just blink my eyes right now, this will all go away, I'll wake up in   
bed, and find out none of this ever happ--| He was pulled out of his comatose state by a   
hand waving back and forth across his face. He looked up. "Cindy?" "Bout time you came   
round." He turned his head and surveyed the devastation that had been done to his once   
beautiful home. Bullet holes mutilated the walls and ceiling, furniture was shattered and   
torn to pieces, perhaps due to the explosion, and a thin cloud of dust filled the air like the   
stench of a old tomb. "Original Cindy leave you guys alone for an hour and all hell breaks   
loose. What the hell happened? Where the hell is Max and her peeps?"   
  
He sat up, feeling the searing, agonizing pain growing in his chest. He held   
his hand to it. Cindy noticed his state of suffering. "You hurt?" "I got shot." |She nailed   
me straight in the heart. How am I still alive?| Cindy pulled up his shirt to get a better   
look. He stared down at his chest, expecting to see a bloody hole, only to find that the   
bullet was embedded in the dark, lightweight yet firm material that he wore over his   
clothing. |Thank god for kevlar.| He'd forgotten to take the vest off when they got back.   
|Logan, you are one lucky son of a bitch.| "Here, help me get this off." She helped pull the   
bulky article over his forehead. He examined his injuries. A dark black/reddish bruise   
covered the area where he'd been hit, and there was a definite pock mark in his flesh   
where it had struck, in addition to a little blood. It still hurt like hell, but otherwise he was   
fine. "You ready to tell me want went down yet?" She looked him directly in eye, her tone   
demanding and somewhat angry. He averted his eyes from hers a bit, not wanting to tell   
her the truth which he himself did not want to believe or hear. He opened his mouth to   
speak, when suddenly he noticed another presence in the room. "Syl! What are you doing   
back here?   
  
"Came back to check up on you. And get some of the stuff I had to leave."   
Syl paused for a moment, hesitant to have him confirm the truth about the others. "They   
got caught, didn't they?" Cindy abruptly came to the obvious conclusion that had evaded   
her for so long. "Let me guess. Them black helicopter goons are what happened, right?"   
Logan could only nod in a strained sign of confirmation. "They got Max and the others?"   
"Yeah." His voice was dry and stagnant. Syl cast her head down. "Fuck. I knew it. How   
the hell did they find us anyway." Logan cleared his throat and began his answer   
hesitantly. "They uh... had someone on the inside." "Like who? It can't be you,   
considering they want your ass dead. Besides, I don't think you'd be the type." "It was   
Max." The faces of both women contorted in shock. "Tell me you're shitting me." "Wish I   
could." Syl merely stood there, unwilling to believe it. "My god. She played us all along,   
had us all fooled. We should have known, it seemed just a little too simple..." Cindy broke   
out of her trance and opened her mouth. "No fucking way my boo would work for them   
bastards. Max be the toughest ass person I know! No fucking way she'd let them   
brainwash her into some kind of--" "She shot me herself." "What?" "Listen Cindy, the   
Max we know is dead. I took one good look at her right before she pulled the trigger. She   
isn't Max anymore, she's just a soulless monster created by Manticore, they turned her   
into one of their goddamn perfect soldiers. And I'm not sure we can ever get her back   
again."   
  
"You all right?" Brin's voice broke the icy numbness rotating endlessly   
through Max's mind like a hurricane—one with no wind or thunder, no detectable sound   
whatsoever, just flashes of bright yellow orange lightning accompanied by the constant   
replaying of that one nightmarish moment in time when she pulled the trigger and   
destroyed the last thing that gave her something to go back to, the last thing that she had   
to live for. She could see herself killing him, over and over again, like a goddamn fucking   
tape being rewinded and replayed for the sole reason of keeping her in perpetual torment.   
"Max? Please. Answer me." She remained numb and unreadable, a granite statue helpless   
to release the torrent of pain welling inside of her. Frustrated, Brin looked at the road   
surrounding her. Two of the hummers were supposed to stay behind them, a necessary   
precaution in order to protect and guard the precious cargo that was behind her. She   
checked the rear mirror, then the side ones. No sign of them. |What the fuck. Are norms   
always this goddamn incompetent? No wonder they had to make us.| She sighed. |Guess   
now is as good a time as any.| She pulled over next to the rusted steel railing. One of the   
guards in the back spoke up. "Sir! Something wrong?" Brin paused for a moment. "Me   
and 452 need to talk for a minute. Alone." Perplexed, a slight frown manifesting upon his   
lips, the guard replied "What about the prisoners?" "Are they properly sedated?" "Yes, but   
we have orders to---" "Leave. Your attention is not required." Worried, the two guards   
opened the back door of the van and shut them firmly behind them.   
  
"Alright Max. Now that we're alone, feel free to tell me what the fuck is   
going on." Barely changing her stonelike appearance, Max gave a controlled and quiet   
answer. "Nothing. It's nothing." "Then why the hell are you acting like this?" "Like what?   
Like you're dead or something?" No answer. Brin noticed a quivering of the upper lip,   
like the woman next to her was about to suffer a nervous breakdown. |Has to be   
something.| Then it struck her. The man back at the apartment. Eyes Only. The guy Max   
shot. "That man. Logan Cale. You knew him didn't you?" All she got was a stiff nod for   
an answer. "You were....I mean... you two were close weren't you? You had feelings for   
him." There was no response this time. There was no need for one. Her silence was   
enough, as was the shimmering drops of moisture emanating form her eyes. Brin was   
beside herself. "Shit." Brin sat for a moment. The decision she was about to make would   
determine the course of the rest of her life, and the lives of Max and the two siblings lying   
unconscious in the back of the vehicle. But what she read in that file on Renfro's desk that   
day compelled her to choose the very path she once believed with all her heart and soul to   
be evil and treacherous, to be the greatest possible sin against all that she stood for, all   
that she believed in, all that she was meant to be. And still, she was not sure where such a   
path would lead, where it would take them.   
  
|I survived on the outside once, we both did. We can do it again. But   
once I go through with this, there's no turning back. No way to set things back the way   
they were till it's too late. This could be the greatest mistake of my life. They'll never   
forgive me for this, never take me back. If they catch me again, they'd probably just kill   
me or worse, stick me down in that pit with nomalies.| She shuddered at the thought. |So   
here I am. To go or not to go?| She paused for one seemingly endless moment as time   
seemed to crawl on it's belly. Then she made her decision. |What the hell.| Turning her   
head and checking to see that Max was paying any attention, she silently reached for the   
high voltage tazer located on her belt. Max continued to stare out the window, eyes   
focusing endlessly into space, oblivious. And so she never knew what hit her as Brin   
shoved the tazer against her neck and activated it, sending coursing jolts of paralyzing   
electricity throughout her body. Vision flickering, dazed and disoriented, she attempted to   
discern what had happened but the world rapidly started to fade to black. And then she felt   
no more.   
  
The guards were incredibly startled when the vehicle suddenly accelerated   
and kicked up a cloud of dust in their direction leaving them choking and stumbling   
uselessly after it while flailing their arms and attempting to shout and simultaneously   
cough up the brownish debris littering their lungs. They both bent down, coughing and   
choking furiously, all the while struggling to process what just happened through their   
slow moving brains. When the dust finally settled, they turned to each other with a almost   
comical mixture of fear and surprise on their faces. One opened his mouth. "What the hell   
just happened?" The other simply shrugged. "I just hope she's in a good mood when she   
hears they ran off without us."  
  
The decision was made, and she was ready to accept any consequences that   
would come as a result of it. Brin looked at the unconscious forms of her brethren littered   
about the vehicle, one in the passenger seat, two in the back, the stretchers they were   
firmly secured to rapping gently against the sides of the vehicle. |No turning back...| And   
yet, somehow she knew she had made the right choice. She gazed once more at the prone,   
still form of her little sister. "Sorry about that Maxie, but I wasn't sure which side you   
would be on. Couldn't afford to let you stop me or anything. One things for sure though.   
You were right about that bitch Renfro. She killed Tinga. And it could be that me or you   
or any one of us would have been next." She cast her head down, a meadly of rage and   
pain filling her voice as she continued. "You were right about everything. I'm just so   
fucking sorry I didn't listen to you earlier." Images flashed through her memory. The   
names of important doctors and personnel on that file. People she had once trusted with   
her life, people who she was once was foolish enough to think only wanted to help her.   
"Manticore didn't care about us. They weren't our family, and that dried up shithole   
wasn't where we belonged. They just wanted to use us for their fucking dirty work, and   
throw us away as expendable assets once we were no longer any use, even though we   
dedicated our lives to them."   
  
"Well, one thing's for sure. I'm not gonna let them do it anymore. I'm not going to   
be their fucking puppet any longer. I'm not gonna let them hurt you guys. Any of you.   
Ever again." She drove on through the endless highway, a final realization dawning on her.   
|I've achieved what I gained and lost, and not until now realized the importance of. I have   
my freedom back.|   



	8. New developments

  
  
Rating:R  
  
Syl stood in the living room, her face cast towards the ground, the color   
drained from her expression. Logan sat in the swivel chair in which he did his work for   
Eyes Only, well, used to anyway. All that was left from the sweat and toil of 8 years of   
attempting to reform the United States of America was the disjointed, scorched, bullet   
ridden mass of twisted metal and cackling wires, of the now mutilated and useless remains   
of his computers and assorted electronic equipment. Sweat dripped down his brow as his   
arms drooped along his sides. "There got to be something we can do. My boo is alive. We   
got to do something to get her back!" Cindy's cries were despondent and wracked with   
the feeling of hopelessness and despair permeating every orifice of the once beautiful   
room. Syl suddenly got angry. "Don't you think that if there was something we could do,   
we'd do it already! But there's nothing we can do. The best option we have is to write   
both Max and the others off as a loss. The sooner we accept that, the better."   
  
Cindy glared daggers at her. "What the fuck is wrong with you fool?   
Don't you care?" Syl inhaled deeply and started to count to ten. If that irritating girl   
wasn't Max's friend, she would be tempted to break her jaw. She took a second or two to   
force her emotions under control and began to state with a forced calmness "Of course I   
care. Max and the others were my family. I'm just doing the rational thing here. To try to   
get them back would be nothing short of suicide. The only thing we can do now is to   
accept what has happened and move on. This isn't easy for me either." Logan pulled his   
head up from his neck and opened his mouth. "I'm afraid she's right. There's nothing we   
can do." His gaze came to rest on the electronic corpses of his equipment resting in a   
crumbled heap before him. "With or without the informant net." "So we just gonna give   
up?" She stared at the both of them, a mixture of both contempt and challenge issuing   
from her face. "Now that's something I know my boo would NEVER do."   
  
Syl's self control began to rapidly slip away from her. "How can I possibly   
get this simple concept through your fucking idiot head? THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN   
DO! JUST LET HER GO!" Her tone softened as Cindy's gaze weakened a bit and her   
jaw began to slack, as if acknowledging defeat in the face of the harsh, merciless, and   
ultimately undeniable truth. "Max is gone. Let her go." Syl didn't notice the teardrop   
flowing down her face until after she had finished the sentence. The other woman merely   
stood in shocked, unreadable silence for a seemingly indefinite period of time.   
  
As suddenly as the massive gulf of silence and freshly released emotion   
washed over them, Syl rushed forward and clamped her hand over Cindy's mouth as she   
began to speak. She lifted a steady finger to her lips. Cindy's mouth stopped moving in   
mid-syllable. Logan suddenly stood erect on the other side of the room, eyes wide and   
fully alert. His gaze met Syl's and the look he recieved in turn confirmed it: they had   
company. Thank god for an X5's enhanced senses. Syl crept silently to the blown open   
doorway, engaging her ears to their maximum hearing level, the soles of her feet fully   
attuned to sense the vibrations of an enemy footfall, all of her faculties in full gear, as if in   
anticipation of a sudden attack. Both sets of eyes belonging to the other two people in the   
room followed her every inch of the way. She made her way into the hallway, out of their   
field of vision. Then there was a abrupt crash of a body hitting the floor, and the sound of   
a foot connecting with someone's leg.   
  
Brin really didn't know why she had come back here, back to good old   
Fogle Towers. There was a small chance that she could find supplies there, something she   
could use, money or some other valuable that would aid her in her quest to get them all   
out of Manticore's reach. But that chance, she admitted to herself with all honesty, was   
rather negligible. After debating it internally within her mind, she came to the conclusion   
that He was the reason she had come back to this place. Come back to that smoking,   
blasted apartment. She needed to know who this man was who had meant so much to her   
sister. More importantly, she needed to know why. Who was he? A friend? A lover? What   
did he mean to her that his loss would take such an effect? And part of it was to satisfy her   
own damn curiosity. She wanted to know the man behind Eyes Only, he who had fought   
so bravely and had died for a cause she did not understand. For whatever reason, here she   
was, taking the elevator to the penthouse floor, possibly a pointless waste of time, time   
she could use to help get them the fuck out of the country. Hell, the more she thought   
about it, the more stupid the whole idea seemed. |You know better soldier. Giving to your   
irrational emotions will only get you and members of your squad killed. They taught you   
better than this, dammit!| She was so preoccupied with her thoughts and self deprecation   
as she walked down the hallway that she didn't even notice her feet being swept under her,   
suddenly sending her whole body crashing onto the floor.   
  
Fortunately, her reaction was quick. She wasn't going to let a repeat of the   
episode of max throwing the cuffs onto her take place all over again. Normally, she would   
curse herself for loosing her focus and not paying any attention to her surroundings, but   
there was no time for that now. She needed to act fast if she didn't want to wind up dead.   
Her left foot lashed out and struck her assailant in the kneecap, hard enough to shatter a   
norm's bones. A grunt of pain from her attacker confirmed that it was a woman, but to her   
surprise, the woman was still able to retaliate with a swift kick to the side of her head,   
knocking her down and causing a surge of unexpectedly sharp and vivid pain. Her brain   
reached a obvious and sudden conclusion. |Must be one of us. Few norms can hit that   
hard.| A foot came down onto her chest to pin her to the ground, but she grabbed it and   
twisted with enough force to flip her opponent around and bring her to the floor with her.   
She sprang up and pinned the attacker's leg with her right foot, while painfully twisting   
the other leg with both hands. She got a good glimpse of who she was fighting. |Long   
blonde hair, blue eyes, familiar facial features... Syl?| She found her voice. "Stop it! I'm   
not here to bring you in!" Ignoring her pleas, Syl slipped her leg from under her foot,   
wrapped it around the foot that had pinned her, and twisted, causing her to fall foward on   
top of her.   
  
Lightning fast, Syl flipped Brin on her back and clapsed a hand around her   
throat, other hand curled into a fist above Brin's face, knees on her stomach. Before she   
could strike, Brin lashed out with both of her own fists, slamming them hard into Syl's   
stomach, stunning her and then grabbing her by the collar and throwing her a good 15 feet   
down the narrow hallway. She flipped backwards from her opponent and put up a   
defensive stance about twenty feet away. Syl got up and prepare to attack once more,   
when they both heard the cocking of a gun and a figure standing 5 feet behind Brin.   
"Don't move."  
  
Brin slowly turned her body 90 degrees to the left, and rotated her head to   
evaluate the new threat that lay behind her. Her mouth opened slightly. They had been   
trained to not show any emotion, to suppress feelings such as surprise and shock during   
battle, but she sure as hell didn't expect to see a dead man standing up and pointing a   
9mm at her. "What the fuck?!! I thought you were dead." Logan merely smiled. "Really   
didn't expect you guys to be so pathetically sloppy. Did it ever occur to you to take a   
minute to check my pulse?" Brin overcame the shock rather quickly and began to assess   
the situation thoughtfully. Even in a confined space such as this, she could probably move   
fast enough to disarm and kill the norm and still have time to meet Syl's charge. But then   
again, that wasn't what she wanted, was it? Provided that she could convince them she   
was on their side, they could be a vital source of help. After a couple seconds, she put her   
hands above her head and kneeled down. "I'm not here for Manticore. I've decided that I   
don't want to be a part of that anymore. You can relax. I'm not the enemy." Syl sneered.   
"Sure, and I'm the fucking Easter bunny. You really expect us to believe that you had a   
spontaneous change of heart and now you're one of the good guys?"   
  
"Believe it or not, I'm telling you the truth. I defected from Manticore just   
about an hour ago. Max, Jondy, and Zane are in a truck in the parking garage. "Why   
aren't they here?" Logan asked. "They were heavily tranquilized upon capture. Don't   
think they'll be up again for least a couple more hours." Another voice, one she had never   
heard before, caused her head to shift in the direction of a young black woman. "Let me   
guess, you want us to get all giddy and excited and run on down to the garage where a   
million of your black helicopter boys be waiting for our stupid asses?" "I'm here alone."   
She stated simply, face devoid of expression. "You don't trust me, go and see for   
yourself." They paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. Logan's eyes narrowed,   
focusing on the stonelike countenance of the enemy. "Don't you think that if I did have   
troops with me, that we would just storm the damn place and not resort to tricks?" Her   
eyes shifted to the ground. "Like I said, Max and the others are down there. They're in   
reasonably healthy condition. And I'm guessing the only way you'll believe me is if you   
see them for yourself. So, are we just gonna sit here forever, or are we gonna make up our   
minds?"   
  
5 minutes later, the four of them stepped out of the elevator and into the   
parking garage. Both Syl and Logan had their guns trained on her at all times. Cindy had a   
.44 tucked into her pants, just in case. They made sure Brin stayed in front of them, eyes   
not once diverting from her every movement. "Any tricks, and the first bullet is going   
straight into the back of your head." Syl stated with an icy firmness. Brin's expression   
betrayed no response, seemingly oblivious to that last remark. Finally, they reached the   
van. Logan's mouth dropped open when he glimpsed the contents of the passenger seat.   
"My god." Max lay there, beautiful face passive and inert, as if she were having some   
pleasant dream. They opened the back doors to find Zane and Jondy equally unconscious,   
and quickly released them form their straps. Syl turned to Brin with a softened smile, all   
hosility gone from her demeanor. "Guess you're on the level after all." "Let's get them   
into the apartment." Logan said. "Then we can figure out what we're going to do next."   
  
It was so damn hard to get good help these days. So impossibly,   
ridiculously difficult to get people who wouldn't screw up and fuck up the project. |and   
these people are supposed to be the best our military has to offer. Jesus fucking christ.|   
Renfro's voice took on a soft, razor sharp edge, exemplifying the rising rage and disbelief   
at what she was hearing. "What do you mean you lost them?" She struggled to keep her   
demeanor under control as the terrified young trooper in front of her sputtered out the   
story. "They-I mean—They just took off while we were waiting. There was nothing we   
could---" To his sudden surprise and unspeakable relief, she smiled at him. She actually   
smiled. "Sir, what—what should I do to rectify the situation?" She said in a sweet and   
almost patronizing voice "Nothing. I'll get someone else to handle it." A giddy and   
childlike grin spread across the young man's features. "Don't worry about it, corporal. We   
all make mistakes time to time. You're excused." The soldier tried to disguise his   
eagerness to escape the room as he half ran towards the door, stopping halfway to give a   
short salute on his way out. When he had left, Renfro called out to the shadowy figure in   
the corner behind where the corporal was standing. "Richardson." "Yes director."   
"Arrange for the corporal and his friend a nice little--- retirement package." The ominous   
man gave a hint of a smile and left the room.   
  
X5-452 awoke to the sound of a man's voice. A voice that seemed oddly   
familiar, and yet she refused to accept the impossibility that lurked in the corner of her   
mind. |It's him. Lo—Eyes Only. Control yourself soldier! To let your emotions deter you   
from your purpose is death!| She opened her eyes a quarter of the way to glimpse a   
familiar visage. It was him. Same undeniable features flooded her senses, the deep blue   
eyes, the scruffy beard, that charming, irresistable smile--- |No! Dammit, I've got to focus!   
Where the hell am I?| She opened her eyes all the way and took in her surroundings. The   
apartment. Was this a dream? A hallucination of some sort? God knows what her genetic   
defects could do to her brain. She looked to the face above her, hoping to find a clue as to   
what was going on. The man's lips were moving, words pouring out of his mouth, but all   
she could not discern what they meant. It was as if no sound poured from the orfice. She   
lashed out with her right hand, urging it to close itself around the man's throat and force   
some answers out of him. But for some reason her hand would not move. She looked at it   
to see it was securely strapped to the corner of a mattress. She had been taken prisoner.   
  
|But how?| The last thing she remembered was someone pressing a cold   
metallic object against the back of her neck, and then a wave of burning pain... |Must have   
been a tazer.| The man hovering above her continued to speak, words that made no sense,   
calling a name of some sort. She ignored him. |It must have been Brin| she realized. |But   
that's simply not possible. She would never betray both her family and Manticore... would   
she?| Her mind wanted to blot out such a horrible thought, that one of their own could   
commit such a heinous act. She decided that for the moment, she would not wonder who   
had betrayed them and why. Her primary objective needed to be to find a way to get out   
of here and get back home. Countless Escape and Evade exercises flowed through her   
mind. |I have to find a way to get back...|   
  
2 weeks later....  
  
Renfro wanted, needed actually, to break something. Smash the window   
perhaps, or maybe... she drove the pencil she held into the desk, shattering the point and   
causing bits and pieces of the fragmented lead to fly across the polished wooden surface.   
She had little time left, and soon the committee would want to know why things weren't   
proceeding as planned with two of her top X5's.... She was startled by the sudden ringing   
of the phone. "What!" she barked. |wouldn't surprise me if someone called to tell me   
things got even worse.|   
  
"This is Captain Carter. I called to tell you that X5-452 just reported in.   
she's being escorted onto the base at this moment."  
  
It looked like things just got better.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Infiltration and Rescue

  
  
Rating:R  
  
Max stood at the perimeter fence of Vivadyne Laboratories, surrounded by   
towering razor wire and armed guards with rottweilers, who were currently growling at   
her feet and threatening to snap free from their leashes. |Always hated the damn things.|   
For the moment, there were only 4 guards present. There was still time to back out. It   
wouldn't be that hard to take out 2 or 3 of them and break away before anyone knew the   
better. She looked past the fence to see an officer and a group of ten heavily armed   
troopers equipped with riot gear marching towards the gate. She inhaled deeply. She had   
to go through with this. |Didn't come all this way to back out now. How the hell did I talk   
myself into this?| No time for that now. She just hoped that this was a damn good idea.   
And that the others did their job right and came through when it counted. |They'd better. I   
have no desire to get stuck in this shithole all over again.| The massive, 12 foot electronic   
gate opened with a screech as wind tussled her hair and made the fur of the dogs stand on   
end. She could hardly feel it through her thick and stifling uniform, a hellish black suit   
which made her feel like a machine, cold, lifeless, artificial. The officer approached her and   
spoke. "You are to come with us, X5-452. The director wants to see you immediately."   
She gave no signs of resistance as they formed a circle around her and marched her   
straight into the gaping mouth of hell.  
  
When she was sure they weren't paying attention, she spoke into the small   
microphone hidden in the collar of the uniform. "I'm in."   
  
Logan sat in the van they had acquired from the South Africans weeks   
before. He stared intently at his laptop. An eerie silence filled the air as her words came   
through the speaker. Although they had went over the details again and again, so much so   
that the whole plan was ingrained into each of their memories, he was still terrified of what   
they had sent her to do. | Relax.| He told himself. |She can handle herself, we went over   
every possibility, just stay calm and focused and do your part and everything will turn out   
fine.| Despite both reassurances from both himself and those closest to her, he was still   
scared out of his mind. He could not, would not stand losing her again, not when he got   
her back so recently, not when things had seemed so bright, when it seemed they could be   
together again. "Dude, you're sweating." Zane pointed to the trickle of moisture dripping   
down his brow. Startled, he wiped it away, cursing himself for being so jumpy. "She's   
going to be alright. She knows what she's doing." "Does she? Because right now I don't   
know what the hell she's doing." "Trust me. This is going to work. She's going to go in   
there, get Krit, and get the fuck out before those bastards figure things out. Just make sure   
you can shut down their power when she gives us the signal. Try to block communication   
in every way you can. Everybody stays cool, does what their supposed to, and everything   
will be okay."   
  
"And if things don't work out?" "They will." Brin stated firmly. "When the   
bombs go off, most of the security on base will rush to the scene to fend off what they   
think is an attack. And with the power out, and everyone separated and not knowing   
what's going on, the whole facility is going to be in an uproar. I'm talking total chaos   
here. The wing they hold the recaptured subjects will be mostly abandoned by the guards,   
leaving only a few Max has to deal with. The rest we'll be keeping busy at the other end of   
the base." Logan stared deep into her eyes, yet could not perceive any glimpse of   
treachery or emotion. "He spoke to Zane. "You sure we can trust her?" "Way I see it, you   
have to. You don't have a chance in hell of pulling this off without me. I know the place   
better than anyone here, and I know how their people operate." He diverted his eyes to   
Syl, who was busy reading their weapons for their upcoming task. As nervous   
as he was, he couldn't possibly imagine what Max must be going through at this very   
moment.  
  
As she passed through the halls, a sense of deja vu assaulted her as a wave   
of dread flowed through her entire body, icy fear tingling her spine. |Just chill Max. Stay   
focused. Concentrate on the mission.| She remembered walking down this hallway before,   
a lifetime ago. A time when they never knew of the world outside of this place, when   
Manticore was all there ever was to their universe. A place of pain, fear, fathomless depths   
of despair and horror. Her footsteps seemed to echo forever across the halls of the   
damned, their icy blue black walls almost exactly like the color of the images now flowing   
through her frozen mind. She had walked down this hallway before, and it unleashed   
another pained memory from her childhood.   
  
They were marching down the very same hallway, single file, like always,   
faces void of all expression. Just the way they were always taught. None of them dared to   
speak or make any noise at all, because they were often hit and screamed at when they did.   
Max saw the boy in front of her begin to tremble, his face beginning to contort in a spasm   
of pain. His legs shuddered ever so slightly as he struggled to place one foot over the   
other in the practiced fashion they were all accustomed to. One step. Another step, this   
time shaky and uncertain. Another, slower and done through a tremendous amount of   
effort, though driven by fear, the boy tried futilely to hide it. Max soon noticed that the   
boy had suddenly stopped moving. His entire body, arms, legs, were rapidly shaking, the   
tiny movements getting bigger and accelerating with alarming quickness. The guards   
ordered the rest of the line to stop as well. The boy lifted one foot into the air in a final   
desperate effort, as if in fierce denial at what was happening to him, and that if he could   
just keep on marching like everyone else it would go away. He continued to struggle in   
vain as the shakes grew stronger and stronger, and found that the muscles were not   
responding to his commands.   
  
Seconds later, the seizure hit full force and the foot hit the ground along   
with the rest of his body. Arms and legs flailing wildly, spasming uncontrollably, a look of   
doom spread across the boy's face like wildfire. He knew what was going to happen next.   
The lead guard gave an order and the others carried him out into the open air. The rest of   
them were told to continue marching. The little girl that was X5-452 fought back her tears   
as a gunshot echoed from the field just outside from the corridor. She knew that that boy   
could have been her, Jondy, Zack, or any of the others of her squadron. It could have been   
anyone of them whose corpse was now headed for the dissection table....  
  
The memory slipped out of her mind almost as quickly as it had entered,   
and she came to her senses once more to find herself sitting in front of the door to   
Renfro's private office. A hand pulled open the door and she was ushered inside. She   
fought rigidly to control her rage upon the sight of the platinum blonde mane and those   
insidious blue eyes. Renfro just smiled a bit and deepened her gaze at the mysteriously   
recaptured subject before her. "Well? Report." She laid back in her chair and folded her   
arms behind her head, smirking ever so slightly. "We were en route to base when X5-736   
stopped the vehicle and stated that she wished to speak to me for some unknown reason.   
Upon stopping the vehicle, she ordered the two guards out of the van. When I got around   
to asking her the purpose of such actions, she tazered me in the throat and rendered me   
unconscious for an indeterminate amount of time."   
  
"When I regained consciousness, I found myself being held at the site of the   
raid on Eyes Only, and the two recaptured subjects we carried were freed. X5-736 was   
evidently turned, and she and the two other rogues attempted to turn me as well. I   
pretended to cooperate with the process and eventually escaped when I saw the   
opportunity." Renfro was silent for a moment. She stared long and hard into her eyes,   
attempting to discern just how trustworthy her words were. The empty almond brown   
orbs stared directly ahead into space, betraying no feeling whatsoever. |If she's lying, then   
she's certainly hiding it well. But I would expect no less.|   
  
Renfro's voice took on a stern, harsh edge when she spoke again. "Look at   
me when I talk to you soldier." The almond brown pupils shifted their gaze to meet her   
own icy, crimson blue spheres. "Have you told me the truth, the whole truth and nothing   
but the truth, about everything that has transpired since you and 736 vanished two weeks   
ago?" "Yes sir." Renfro peered harder and sharpened her tone. "And how do I know that   
you're not trying to fool us all, that they haven't actually managed to turn you like they   
did with others in the past? How do I know that loyalty to this organization is really what   
brought you back to us? "I assure you that I was and still am, and forever will be   
completely loyal to manticore and to you. If you ask for proof that I am not working for   
the enemy, then I'm afraid I don't have any. You'll just have to take my word for it."   
Renfro stared at the younger woman before her, examining features that were stony and   
unreadable.   
  
She glared almost contemptuously at her. Then her face stiffened and she   
sat back up in the leather covered chair. "Very well then. You better not be lying to me, or   
you won't be the only one to pay... I could always take things out on your family, now   
couldn't I? Especially that one we're just starting to reindoctrinate..." A gleeful spark of   
pleasure ignited inside her black, twisted soul and she could not help but let it show   
through her face as Max's eyes contorted uncomfortably and her body trembled ever so   
slightly, as if in a sudden, although barely noticeable rush of fear. "Dismissed." Max   
walked somewhat unsteadily out of the room as crippling panic began to settle over her   
thoughts...   
  
Renfro sat at her ornate mahogany wood desk and pondered what her next   
course of action should be. More accurately, she wondered what the hell she should do   
with X5-452. |There is no evidence that she's lying or that she'd been turned somehow,   
but...| She frowned and crossed her arms on the desk, resting her chin on them.   
|Something isn't right. I don't feel safe about letting her wander about unsupervised and   
letting things go back to normal... she's changed, that one. I don't know how I know, but   
I just do. She's spent two weeks on the outside, for christ's sake! No telling what's really   
going on in that head of hers...| The cruel blue eyes flashed angrily as she made a quick   
and pointedly decisive movement to her left, picking up the phone at the left corner of her   
desk.   
  
Max was told to report back to the X5 barracks and wait for further   
instructions. She started to walk her way to that location, though it was a little ways off   
from where they were holding Krit. She still wasn't sure if she should go through with the   
plan. She walked slowly. |Need time to think...| About 3 quarters of the way to the   
barracks, she made up her mind. |Didn't come here for nothing... got to go through with   
it.| Even if it meant another of her family could end up like Tinga... maybe even worse.   
|Besides, I don't think she'd really kill off another one... what is she going to say to her   
bosses? Besides, even if she can come up with a believable excuse, she probably needs us   
too much to be killing us off at will.... or does she? Either way, it's too late to turn back   
now. It's now or never. This is the only chance we'll ever get. I leave and I'll blow my   
cover permanently and we'll probably never see him again.| She just wished she could   
bring the others with them. Quietly slipping from the sight of nearby guards, she began   
rapidly move towards the grayish building to the west of the base.  
  
Detention block 8 was a dark, dreary structure with endless, winding   
corridors that were almost like a maze. A maze jam packed with guards at every corner,   
and a state of the art security system loaded with alarms, cameras, motion sensors,   
invisible laser tripwires, and every form of security measure one could think of. Even alone   
she couldn't sneak into this building and get out again undetected, much less with Krit   
following behind her, assuming they hadn't drugged him so badly he would barely be able   
to walk. Which they must have done. She had climbed through a small office window on   
the second floor. Leaping up and latching onto the ledge had been easy enough, and   
seeing no occupants in the room, she used some of her cat burgling tools to carve a hole   
through the glass, which she delicately removed, and quickly as she dared unlocked the   
window from the other side and crawled in. All the while attempting to be as silent as   
possible. Hugging the wall, she stuck her head out the open door and took note of the   
guards and cameras scattered about the hallway just outside. She didn't like what she saw.   
|Bastards got this place covered inch by inch. Too risky to go it alone. Time for that little   
diversion to take place.| She crept her way to the corner of the room and whispered into   
her microphone.  
  
A minute later, the east side of the base was rocked with a massive series   
of explosions as about 3 guard towers went up a eruption of blinding light and scorching   
flame. Burning shards of wood and metal showered half of the massive compound like   
hailstones from hell, along with the flaming, charred, and messily dismembered body parts   
of some of the tower's occupants. Every guard and soldier on that side of the compound   
was rushing to the scene seconds afterwards, some carrying fire hoses, desperate to stop   
the deadly blaze that was rapidly engulfing a nearby structure. Others were carrying out   
the wounded on stretchers, who were struck by debris or set ablaze somehow. Officers   
stood in the middle of the mess, shouting out frantic orders and adding to the general   
atmosphere of chaos and panic. And just then the power went out throughout the entire   
installation, and unseen attackers opened fire on the entangled mass of troops from the   
cover of the trees.  
  
Logan grinned in his chair while listening to the sound of the mess they   
made from intercepted radio transmissions. A torrent of screaming, shouting, and the   
rushing of feet accompanied by spouts of weapons fire, the sound of sizzling flames, and   
intermittent bursts of static. Cries of pain spewed forth from the troops hit by the lethal   
and unexpected barrage of hot lead coming from the surrounding woodlands, courtesy of   
Zane, Jondy, and Brin. There came the deafening boom of a grenade launcher   
releasing it's explosive load into some large object, followed by the sound of a second   
explosion accompanied by the sound of a dying vehicle's creaking and sputtering.   
  
"All units, report to the eastern perimeter! We are under attack! Repeat!   
All units to eastern perimeter! We need some backup NOW, goddammit!"   
  
From the safety of the room she hid in, Max whispered once more into her   
comm. "Fucking guards here aren't leaving! I'm gonna need some more intervention   
before I can go with it."  
  
Logan began to furiously type, fingers skittering across the keyboard. "No   
problem." Seconds later his voice came over the speaker of detention block 8. "All   
security in detention block 8, report to perimeter defense immediately. Repeat, report to   
perimeter defense immediately!   
  
One guard outside the commander's office directed a questioning look   
towards his friend. "Director said she'd have our asses if we leave this post. What do you   
think?" "Fuck it. Let's go. What does she think, that the prisoner is just going to get up   
and leave with all the shit they pumped into him?" Soon enough, almost all of the guards   
had left the building, leaving only two behind guarding the door to the ward where Krit   
was being kept.  
  
About a minute after all the others had left the building, Max emerged from   
the corner and punched one of the remaining guards in the lungs, cracking the bone and   
sending him to his knees gasping hopelessly for air. The other, naturally, never had time to   
register what was happening before she knocked him out cold with a blindingly fast   
roundhouse kick. She brought her fist down on the back of the other one's neck before he   
even had time to draw in the first breath, flooring him like a sack of bricks. She stepped   
cautiously into the room closing the door behind her.  
  
Max stared at the bed in front of her. The unconscious form, restraints and   
all, was underneath a huge set of covers and was completely hidden from her view, so she   
wasn't quite sure who it was. She checked the medical chart located on the side table. It   
was an X5 in the bed alright, and it was Krit's barcode listed on the chart. So it must be   
him. |But something's seriously whacked here. I don't know what it is, it's just this bad   
feeling.... Ah hell, it's probably nothing. Better get him out of here while I still can.| She   
pulled back the bed covers.  
  
And found Eva lying in the bed with a gun aimed directly at her head.   
  
|Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!!!!|   
  
"Looking for someone Maxie?"   
  
  
  
  



	10. Ambush and Death

  
Rating:R  
  
Zane dug his head into the dirt as grenade went off about 8 feet from   
where he was positioned. He retaliated with a prolonged burst from his M16A2, watched   
as one of the enemy was hit and the rest were forced to take cover behind nearby rocks   
and trees. Brin was to the right of him, exchanging fire with a squad that had started to   
approach them from 2 o'clock. Somebody threw a grenade towards her location that   
landed about 6 inches away from her foot. She snatched it up and returned it to it's owner   
in a quick and furtive movement—but not quick enough to keep a bullet from gracing the   
upper portion of her arm. Small blotches of blood splattered across her uniform, followed   
by a small stream of the inky red substance slithering down the length of her arm, towards   
the hand. It hurt. |Superficial damage, nothing to worry about| she thought, but motioned   
towards Zane that they should move back.   
  
He complied after attaching one of his grenades to a trip wire, something   
to slow them down with. He followed Brin as she sprang deeper into the woods, her shape   
a indistinct blur of motion. He stopped at a area with a rock outcropping and an adjacent   
oak, a 2 foot long opening between them. Split second analysis of the tightly clustered   
trees around him indicated that they would probably come through this way. He set up   
another tripwire with one of his grenades. They could only hold the bastards off for so   
long, but he intended to do so for as long as he could... and make the fuckers pay while he   
was at it.  
  
|Dammit, Max, where the hell are you?|   
  
Max stared at the pistol in front of her. Then into Eva's eyes. Icy, cold,   
ruthless. Just like they were all taught to be. "Don't think I won't do it" the woman before   
her stated firmly. "Family or not. Now back away." Max hesitated. Then she heard the   
cocking of a rifle aimed at a covered form 4 beds down. The wielder of the gun was a X7   
clone. Zack's X7 clone. All the features were of shocking likeness to the 10 year old boy   
she once knew. Her mind flashed back to the adult Zack, chisled face so unlike that of the   
young soldier pulling off the blankets hiding the figure who she now saw was an   
unconscious Krit, hooked up to IV tubes and a heart monitor, unrestrained but never the   
less unable to do anything to save himself should the little freak decide to pull the trigger.   
The cocking of another rifle behind her prompted her to turn her head in order to witness   
her younger self taking aim at the back of her head. |Ah. Her again.| "You know, Maxie,   
I'm a little disappointed in you. The soldier I knew would never be so pitifully stupid. If   
you'd just taken the time to properly scan the area before rushing in, you'd never be in this   
situation. But I guess that's what life on the outside will do to you, huh?   
  
She took a tentative step backwards. "Take her down" Eva ordered. The   
X7 max clone reached for the tazer dart pistol located on the belt she wore on her side.   
Noticing the motion, max lunged foward, grabbed Eva's hand, and deflected the gun   
upwards just as it went off. Her young clone had the tazer pistol out and fired it in one   
incredibly fast movement, just as Max twisted Eva's arm behind her shoulder and stepped   
to the side. The darts streaked towards where she had once been, barely missing her by a   
quarter of an inch, and nailed Eva in the stomach. As the electric spasms of pain streaked   
through Eva's body, Max dived for cover across the adjacent bed while her clone opened   
up with the rifle, jacketed lead punching holes across the wall and into the electronic   
devices that filled the room. Sparks of electricity flew wildly into the nearby bed sheets,   
whispers of smoke growing quickly into several small conflagrations. The Zack clone   
shifted his own gun up to his shoulder and drew a bead on her. His finger tensed on the   
trigger, ready to punch her full of holes.   
  
Just as the zack clone was about to pull the trigger, Krit's hand suddenly   
lashed out and grabbed the pistol in the X7's belt holster. Realizing too late what had   
happened, the X7 zack desperately tried to knock the gun away as it was being pointed at   
his head. Krit slipped his gun hand underneath the rifle as it tried to knock his gun away,   
and rose it back up, relocating it past the X7's shoulder and with the muzzle pressed hard   
against his head. The X7 must have known his time was up, Krit could see the sudden fear   
spark within the eyes of the young soldier. He pulled the trigger, spewing a crimson spray   
of dark blood and brains across his shirt and face. The X7 stood stock still for what   
seemed as an eternity but was nothing more than just half a second, than toppled   
backwards, away from transparent smoke the seeped from the barrel of the weapon that   
had killed him.   
  
X7 Max shrieked with rage and pointed her gun at him. Krit tried to aim   
the pistol at her, but his reflexes were no match for hers. Neither were Max's as she   
lunged from behind the bed, going for the rifle now directed at her brother. Fully   
automatic fire raked across his stomach and chest, the force of the rounds juggling his   
body relentlessly and causing the pistol to fall out of his grip as they tore chunks of flesh   
from his torso. Inky red gore splattered the covers and the bed as well as the wall behind   
him. His eyes seemed to daze and fill with shock and confusion, as if he could not   
understand or accept what had just happened. "NO!" Max must have screamed or made   
some kind of noise, but it was lost in the din as her brother's body fell back into the bed   
now soaked by his blood and shattered bits of tissue. She got to her X7 clone just as her   
younger counterpart started to turn the weapon on her. The gun sprayed bullets   
uncontrollably into the ceiling and wall behind them as max wrenched it away from her   
face. The X7, though startled by her sudden grasp on the weapon, slammed her knee into   
Max's stomach and grabbed her by the head, throwing her with sudden force over her   
shoulder and slamming her into the floor behind her. Stunned by the sudden blows, Max   
had the gun wrenched away from her weakened grip.   
  
The X7 again took aim at Max's forehead as she lay on the ground.   
Acting in the nick of time, Max grabbed the barrel with both hands and shoved upwards   
with all her might, causing the subsequent burst to thud into the floor inches from her   
forehead. Possesing strength and speed supercharged with adrenaline from her rage over   
Krit's sudden death and her own will to survive, she ripped the rifle completely free from   
the X7's grasp and slammed the opposite end into the girl's face HARD, knocking her   
down and back 5 feet. She then sprang up using her back and took aim at the X7 lying on   
the floor, still conscious despite the nose that had just been broken in at least 3 different   
places. She stared back up at Max in a ferocious display of defiance and rage that   
resembled the same expression on max's own face. The girl lifted the upper half of her   
body, keeping her eyes wide open, waiting for the 5.56mm rounds to tear her apart.   
  
Max stood there for a moment, pointing the gun, finger pressing down   
the trigger halfway. Her eyes were full of hate and malice at the being she saw sprawled   
out on the floor before her, it's own countenance glaring back at her with an seemingly   
equal fury. Suddenly, she loosened her finger from the trigger, and then took it off   
entirely. She slowly took the gun from her shoulder, ejected the mag, opened the door,   
threw the magazine out into the hallway, and set the rifle against the wall next to the door.   
Puzzlement and disbelief filled the X7's face as she did this, and she made moved not an   
inch from the floor where she lay. It made no sense, the enemy had a perfect opportunity   
to take her out, all she had to do was point and shoot--- "Sorry. I don't do guns. Looks   
like you and me will have to settle this the old fashioned way." The X7 smiled in   
understanding, took a step back, and put up a fighting stance.   
  
"Max? Max!" He checked the frequency and the status of Max's comm on   
the display of his laptop, and then tried again. "Max! This is Logan! Come in! What the   
hell's going on? You read me? Come in!" No answer, not in the form of a voice anyway,   
but he did hear the sound of gunfire echoing in the room, the sound of Max's body   
tumbling across the floor, then the sound of a scream or cry of some sort, that sounded it   
had come from a young child. Then came more gunfire punctuated by the loud cry of a   
voice he knew all too well. More sound came through the speakers after that, but none   
managed to fall on his numb ears. Sweat flowed like water down his face. |Max. Oh god,   
not again. I can't lose her again.| He didn't come this far just to lose her, perhaps   
permanently this time. He remembered the last time something like this had happened.   
When Lydecker caught Max right before they made the assault on manticore. His thoughts   
paralyzed by fear, he sat there numbly for a few seconds, muscles not responding to the   
unintelligible screams of his mind.   
  
|Max is in trouble, gotta do something, gotta do something....shit!| He   
radioed to Brin and Zane. "Guys, where are you?" "Guys?" No response. He tried Syl.   
"Syl, you have visual of Max or Krit?" Her voice indicated that she was as scared and   
worried as he was. "N—No. No sign of them. They're still inside. Dammit, something's   
up! They should be out by now?" He sat there, thoughts racing through his mind as to the   
intelligent course of action. If there were better circumstances under which to think, if he   
had time to analyze each possible choice, if, if, if....  
  
He turned his head to rest his feverish gaze to the shotgun he tucked at the   
corner of the table. He couldn't just sit there, he had to do something, now! If he stalled   
any longer it could be too late for the two of them. Yet charging in there could be   
incredibly stupid, risky. He wasn't a X5 or even a soldier, and although the exoskeleton let   
him walk, and to a certain extent move quickly if he needed to, it still offered a limited   
degree of movement, so he couldn't go very fast or exercise any true agility. |And there's   
no telling if it'll give out on me in a sticky situation. But I can't just sit here!| Thought   
processes frozen, his brain teetered in indecision. The whole world seemed to stand frozen   
still for that one moment time that was excruciatingly slow in passing.   
  
And then the decision was made for him as a powerful blast of light tore   
the door of the van off it's hinges and threw both him and his equipment to the far side of   
the vehicle. His vision temporarily blinded by the force with which he was struck with,   
Logan's eyes refocused upon the sight of black clad humanoid shapes pouring into the   
van. He sprang across the room for the gun, but was stopped in mid air as something hot   
and sharp stung him in the stomach sending ripples of intense pain across his body just   
before his head slammed soundlessly into the table and everything faded to a black   
stillness.   
  
Brin ran through the maze of trees in front of her, her superhuman speed   
keeping her well ahead of her pursuers. She ran without panting or feeling true exertion,   
legs striding ahead, one after the other, in a remarkable display of swiftness and efficiency.   
Branches whipped against her face, leaves and pointy stems slapping roughly against her   
cheeks. Now and then the sharp ends of the branches scraped sharply against her whitish   
face, drawing blood once, but she didn't even feel the pain or notice the tiny trickle   
wriggling down the side of her forehead. Behind them, another boom and flash of light   
accompanied by short lived screams echoed through the wood. Zane who was matching   
her pace 30 feet away at horizontal direction, smiled slightly as he effortlessly navigated   
his feet through the rocks of a stream. Both of their breathing patterns were steady and   
relaxed, rhythms timed perfectly to keep their stamina up as long as possible, as opposed   
to the norms chasing them.   
  
As the sounds of the enemy drifted farther and farther away, the two of   
them slowed their pace to a sudden stop. Zane motioned to Brin that it was time to split   
up. She gave a quick nod in understanding and began to weave her way in the opposite   
direction. Zane started to move as well, making his way 2 o'clock. They would create a   
looping trail and leave the enemy traveling in circles, which should buy time for them to   
slip past their pursuers and head back towards the main complex to help out Max.   
Suddenly instinct took over as he neared the base of a large tree. He perceived the strange   
feeling that he was being watched. He slowed his pace and enhanced his senses slightly.   
Looking. Listening. Sensing. He always had a good nose for ambushes. |Up there, in that   
tree ahead.| There was a faint rustling and shifting of the leaves, and something black and   
slightly shiny poked through the dark green foilage. His legs were moving before his mind   
had registered the fact, and at the same time the arm muscles were pulling up his weapon   
to shred the occupant to pieces. The gun was 3 quarters of the way up to his shoulder   
when something burning hot and traveling at a great velocity impacted with his right arm,   
tearing through his skin ripping a ragged hole through his flesh.   
  
Small shapes surrounded him as he fell, weapons aimed at every point of   
his body. Fucking X7's. He groaned through the fierce burning agony originating from his   
struck limb. His eyes focused on a familiar face as it grew closer towards him. It was the   
face of a ten year old boy. His own. He watched with a growing sense of horror as his   
hands were yanked behind his back and cold metal cuffs snapped shut around them.   
  
|Punch, block, kick, block......| Hand to hand combat drills they went   
through countless times at this place flowed through Max's head. All synchronized   
perfectly, each movement she made in rhythm with that of her partner and the movements   
of all the other young soldiers training in the middle of a vast, mat covered space. She had   
spared with the best of them, Zack, Eva, Brin..... and proved herself capable of defeating   
any one of them, given the right technique and approach to each opponent. Not that they   
were pushovers, but the most important key to beating your opponent lay in studying their   
movements and individual styles, looking for weaknesses or openings of any sort,   
searching for some flaw or idiosyncracy to exploit against them.   
  
She just had to find a way to beat herself, that's all.   
  
Though younger and smaller, having a body that was in no way as fully   
developed as her own, her own clone seemed to be a more formidable opponent than any   
of the X5's she had ever faced in sparring matches. For one thing, Lydecker was right   
when he said the X7's were physically superior. Only ten years old and her opponent   
somewhat more than matched her in strength, even more so with speed. She managed to   
remain alive so far, successfully blocking, dodging, and parrying most of her younger   
counterpart's blows. They had both received the same training, so each knew the   
repertoire of moves the other had. But as the seconds passed, the X7's speed and well   
practiced skills began to tell. She lashed out with a viscous kick at Max's undefended leg,   
nearly crushing the joint and sending searing throbs of pain through her knee. Max knew a   
heavy bruise would be forming there, in addition to the broken nose and abundant number   
of more minor injuries she had already received. The fire on 2 or 3 of the cots had not   
spread, thankfully, but the X7's ferocious attack was pushing her back towards the door.   
  
Once max was pushed through the doorway, the X7 snatched up the   
unloaded rifle and began to use it as a club. Max grabbed her after dodging a swing, tried   
to throw her, but ended up getting flipped onto the floor herself. She received a swift   
punch that caused blood to spill from her newly split lip, but was able to shift her head in   
order to dodge the next blow aimed directly at crushing her throat. She rolled as fast as   
she could, pressing with both hands on the floor to propel herself into the air and back on   
her feet, only to receive another punch to the chest that cracked her ribs and propelled her   
backwards. Coughing up blood, she pondered her next move while desperately evading   
the clone's next series of attacks. Suddenly an idea grasped her. All along she had been   
using the moves and style that Manticore had taught them, which the clone seemed far   
more familiar with. What if she tried something else? As the clone launched into another   
attack, this one intended to bring her to her knees and finish her off for good.  
  
The little bitch got a nasty surprise.   
  
The strange maneuver that Max pulled was completely unfamiliar, and the   
confused clone was unable to counter or evade it as max slammed her head into the X7's,   
followed by a powerful knee to the stomach. Properly stunned, the clone could do little as   
Mas flipped her on her back and closed her arms around the clone's throat. The X7   
slammed her elbow as hard as she could into Max's kneecap, the one that had been   
previously damaged. The bone shattered like glass and brought Max's legs buckling   
beneath her, dropping her to one knee. The X7's arms wrapped around the injured Max's   
head, ready to snap her neck in two.   
  
Only to find a 6 inch blade embedded into her rib cage.  
  
Max shoved the knife in deeper, twisting ruthlessly, tearing up the young   
soldier's insides, shifting it to and fro, before shoving violently upwards, towards the   
heart.  
  
She pulled her blood soaked hand free as the clone released her grip and   
fell in the rapidly widening pool of red forming at her feet. Relief filled her as she dropped   
the knife she had equipped before the trip, it's blade now a shining ivory crimson. Her   
muscles relaxed, languid tiredness flooding her at the conclusion of the battle.  
  
The whispery echo of a gun being cocked came from behind her.   
  
  
  
  



	11. Downward Spiral

Rating:R  
  
Sorry I haven't been updating this, I had some other stuff I needed to do.  
  
Jondy crouched down at the corner of the barb wire fence, studying her   
broken comm. She had been attempting to repair the damn thing for several minutes, only   
to find it mutilated beyond all use. "Shit!" The device had been dropped when two guards   
bumped into her after she gave the all clear for Zane to detonate the explosives she   
planted around the outer perimeter of the base. She was just hurrying along to get within   
the minimum safe distance when the pair encountered her entirely by accident, merely en   
route back to base, probably from some routine area patrol of some sort. She was still   
amazed that she didn't notice them as they drew close, especially since they really weren't   
making any attempt to hide themselves. That wasn't *too* bad of a mishap, she silenced   
the first one with a suppressed Beretta 92F shot to the head, put another bullet into the   
other's throat and then broke his neck when he didn't die quickly enough for her taste.   
Problem was, she forgot to pick up her comm afterwards, she was too busy getting the   
hell away from the ensuing explosion that turned everything to hell.   
  
She was currently hidden from view, her back to a guard station separated   
from her by the fence. She wondered if the others had forgotten about her in the ensuing   
chaos. She didn't have radio or visual contact with any of them, which meant she had no   
idea what was going on and if things had transpired the way they were supposed to. And   
she picked up gunfire coming from inside the complex, somewhere around where Max's   
target zone. |Definitely not a good sign.| She packed up her stuff and put herself in stealth   
mode, weaving her way silently past the few guards that were still located on her side of   
the base, limbs moving with amazing speed while still maintaining fluid grace and utter   
silence. She was headed for Syl's position. There was little chance she could lead anyone   
to her. It was time to figure out what the hell was going on.  
  
|Never go back for a fallen soldier. You could place you and your team   
within risk of being killed or captured.| Brin remembered well what Lydecker taught them   
all those years ago. And in this case especially, trying to save Zane would be incredibly   
stupid indeed, as it would only end in her joining him in captivity. Inside of her, something   
hot and angry rebelled against the idea of leaving family behind, to letting them take him   
back to that hell she just abandoned so recently. She was tempted to charge X7's and   
open fire, maybe giving him a chance to slip away...|No. The rational, intelligent thing to   
do would be to count him off as a loss. You've seen what the 7's are capable of, and they   
outnumber you 10 to 1. Don't let emotions cloud you sounder judgement.| As she headed   
off through the woods, easily evading the her merely human pursuers, she began to   
wonder whether or not she had made the right decision by participating in this operation.   
If she made the right choice by rejoining the deserters in the first place.   
  
The decision she made was both spontaneous and not subject to more   
thorough examination of the consequences of such a choice. |Even if we do get Krit out,   
we'll still lose Zane, and end up no better off than we were before. And Manticore will   
never stop hunting for us. Ever.| Suddenly a life forever on the run seemed highly   
unappealing. And it stood to reason that sooner or later, they would end up back at   
Manticore anyway, dead or alive. Preferably alive rather than dead, which would be much   
more likely if they were all captured now rather then later....   
  
Question is, would they accept her if she went back to them?  
  
Max was frozen in a kneeling position with one knee raised, the other one   
glued to the floor. Burning spasms of icy hot pain continued to erupt from her shattered   
kneecap. She attempted to move the limb, but the attempt was met with yet more agony,   
causing her to groan softly and rest the crippled knee back onto the cold hard floor. She   
turned her head to face Eva who had rather quickly recovered from the shock she had   
received, and was now pointing a gun at her. "Get up." Max didn't respond, she just sat   
there nursing the pain, incredibly irritated that her condition was not understood. "I said   
get up!" She just stared back at her, gripping her injured leg. Eva's eyes shifted towards   
the appendage, a shimmer of understanding spreading across her face. She grinned ever so   
slightly. |Looks like someone isn't going anywhere soon.| She pulled her radio from her   
belt and called central command. "I have a prisoner in detention block 8. Send two teams   
ASAP. Over." She put the device back into her belt holster, gun still in line with Max's   
torso. "You shouldn't have come back." "What, you expected me to just leave him here?"   
"Never go back for a fallen soldier. Remember? You should have done the smart thing and   
stuck to what they taught us. She motioned towards the death and carnage surrounding   
them. "You could have avoided all this. Why Max? Why couldn't you just come home?   
Why do you keep fighting us?" Guards burst through the doorway of the room and   
dragged her to her feet.  
  
Max gave little resistance as they pulled her through the hallway, her   
injured leg dragging along the pale blue floor. The pain in her leg was receeding, but it   
would be a while before she could move fast enough to try something. A few more   
minutes at most. Meanwhile, she just stumbled along towards whatever fate awaited her at   
the hands of Renfro and her cronies. Zane and Brin should be headed this way to check   
things out by now. She just needed to hold out and think of an idea. She racked her brain   
for answers, ignoring the instincts that told her that it was all over.....  
  
Syl felt Brin moving towards her through the brush, leaves making tiny   
scratching noises as they brushed against each other. "No sign of her. We picked up   
gunfire coming from inside the building and sounds of a struggle, but status is unknown"  
Syl answered to her unspoken question. Brin noticed that she was fidgety and restless,   
desperate to get a handle on the situation and do something. "Great." "It gets better. Lost   
contact with Cale several minutes ago. He may be captured or dead." Brin registered the   
news in slight shock, and her face let some of it seep through, despite the hardened   
military exterior that was remarkably good at withholding such emotions. "How the hell   
did that happen?" This was unexpected. For one fleeting moment, her heart grieved for   
max. It sure as hell wouldn't go over well with her if something happened to that stupid   
boyfriend of hers. She was angry at her for getting so attached to someone who was not   
one of them, a civie who probably shouldn't be along for the ride in the first place. Such   
emotional attachment was weakness and vulnerability, something people like them   
couldn't afford. |Stupid asshole will get her killed. She ought to just dump the sorry fuck.|  
But there was no time for reminiscing on Max's personal life. Something's obviously gone   
wrong. Very wrong. And somebody needed to check it out. Now.  
  
Suddenly Syl's eyes jumped in alarm as if she had forgotten something.   
Someone, to be more specific. She cursed herself for being so stupid at such an important   
time. "Jondy. What the hell happened to Jondy." They both paused in silence for a   
moment. Brin answered. "Don't know, I assumed you or Cale kept in contact with her."   
Syl's eyes narrowed in fear. "Oh no, not her too----" Just then Jondy emerged from the   
brush behind them. Alive, no worse for wear. "Can either of you tell what the hell's gone   
down?" Relief washed over Syl's face for a second, and then she quickly filled her in on   
the situation. Jondy's face turned dark as the green eyes burned with focused intensity.   
"I'm going in." She turned towards the direction of the main complex. "Not alone you   
aren't" Brin called out to her. The dark haired soldier quickly grabbed her weapon and   
spare ammo and started after her. "Stay here and cover us just in case something goes   
wrong. Which probably will" she said to Syl with her back turned, dashing after her   
younger sister. Syl settled back down into the leaves, bringing her rifle to bear on the   
corner of the base where they were headed. Tension tore through her like a runaway train   
as her fingers wrapped tightly around the handle, and she forced her body to settle down   
in wait.   
  
The expression on Max's face was appropriately horrified when she saw   
that she wasn't the only one who had been caught . Dozens of guards filled the large   
grassy knoll that was the center of the complex, most of whom had their weapons trained   
on her. With them were a sizable group of X7's who had Zane securely cuffed and   
restrained and down on his knees. His face was covered with bruises and cuts and there   
was a large amount blood coming from his shoulder, pouring down his chest and arm,   
drying and being absorbed into the torn fabric of his clothing. He looked as if he had put   
up sizable resistance as they had dragged him to this location. Eva slammed her hand   
down on her shoulder, dropping her on her broken knee, causing a overwhelming jolt of   
pain to run through her entire leg. She looked into Zane's eyes and saw the same feelings   
of hopelessness and doom imprinted like a stamp upon her own.   
  
And then she saw Logan being dragged by several burly guards towards   
the hill.   
  
His glasses were gone now, and she saw that he was only half conscious,   
his face bleeding in several locations, a limp in his feet as he struggle to walk foward, blue   
eyes glazed over and empty. He stumbled to the ground, and one of the guards holding   
him delivered a swift kick to the stomach before he could push himself back on his feet.   
He moaned slowly as they shoved him forward once more, harder this time, growing more   
impatient with the pace at which he was half gimping along.   
  
Renfro followed close behind the guards handling him. A smug grin was   
spread from ear to ear as she casually walked after them, her well pressed suit making her   
contrast sharply to the grass and black suited guards all around them.   
  
They made it within 20 feet of where Max was, and shoved him roughly   
into ground. Despite his broken, wretched condition, he managed to smile at her. Max just   
looked like she wanted to throw up. |This isn't happening, isn't happening, isn't fucking   
happening.| But it was. She didn't bother looking for a way out anymore. She knew there   
was none. "Got more lives than a cat, doesn't he?" Renfro half joked, face eager with   
anticipation of what she was about to do. She raised an eyebrow at Eva. "Thought you   
were sure you had taken care of the little pest." Unperturbed, Eva responded in the   
robotic monotone typical of Manticore troops. The words flew past the ears of the   
prisoners, not that it really mattered anyway. They were screwed and everyone knew it.   
After only a second or two Renfro dropped the matter and returned her attention to   
Logan's ragged form lying before her.   
  
"The great Eyes Only just doesn't give up does he?" He met her eyes with   
a casual calmness laced with cool determination and with a slight touch of humor on his   
battered face. Something typical of Logan Cale. "Guess I'm not the type to know when to   
quit." "Hmm. Guess you aren't. Ah well, I'm sure we can fix that. We'd kill you   
ourselves, but it seems that one of our mutual acquiantances is more than willing to pay us   
a considerable amount of funds in order to have that honor for themselves." Max opened   
her mouth to protest, voice tinged with panic, though knowing full well it wouldn't   
change the inevitable. "Let him go. He's got nothing to do with this. It's us you----" she   
was cut off as a guard slammed the butt of a rifle against the back off her head. Her head   
was forced down for a second, and then she slowly rose it again, panic and fear in her eyes   
replaced by fiery rage at the hopelessness of their situation. Renfro's expression lost all it's   
amusement and turned serious and commanding along with her voice. "Take them down   
to sublevel 2, cell block 4. I'll deal with them later. I want half the teams to keep watch   
over the prisoners. Don't let them out of sight, don't let them get within arms reach of you   
unless securely restrained. Have the rest of our forces comb the woods and the   
surrounding area for any additional trouble. Remember, if you encounter any of the rogue   
X5's I want them alive. In addition---" "Over there!" She was cut off by the sound of the   
guards shouting and weapons being raised to center on the solitary figure approaching   
them from 100 yards behind her.   
  
Max and Zane amplified their vision to confirm the identity of the new   
figure approaching them as the guards rushed forward to encircle her.  
  
It was Brin.  
  
Renfro stood there, taking the new development in stride and suppressing   
any surprise the appearance may have instilled in her. She walked slowly toward the   
recently defected X5, attempting to determine her intentions and if she was somehow   
involved with the day's events. She waited patiently as they checked her for weapons, and   
finding none, they forced her onto her knees with her hands behind her head. Renfro   
continued to study her for a nerve wrecking moment of absolute silence, as the X5 calmly   
waited for whatever judgement she might decide to impose. Then she asked a simple   
question.   
  
"What are you doing here, X5-734?"   
  
"To act in the best interests of Manticore. There are more rogue X5's hidden in the   
surrounding area, and I can tell you where they are."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Gone

  
Rated:R  
  
Renfro just stared for a moment. Uneasy, unsure. Her options were limited,   
and she couldn't tell which was the most promising. |A runaway X5 suddenly shows up   
right after a massive, coordinated assault on the base, and offers to help out by revealing   
the location of the attackers, who she may very well be working with. Then again, X5-  
734's reindoctrination was extremely thorough and she showed no signs of rebellious or   
dissenting behavior during the whole time she was with us.| A odd, discomforting mixture   
of emotion rose inside of her. Something like fear, rage, a mixture of many feelings that   
lead to the dehabilitating sense of that nasty little thing you called helplessness. To   
someone like Renfro, such a thought was utterly intolerable. SHE was in control, X5-734   
and the prisoners were at her mercy, SHE had to be the one to know exactly what was   
what and who was sided with who. That was just the way it had to be. And now she was   
unsure, this soldier, through her bizarre, unexplainable behavior, exerted power over her,   
made her feel weak, like one of the pawns she routinely used to ensure her position of   
power within the institution.   
  
And she wasn't going to take it.   
  
Voice tinged with a unexpected dash of menace, she spoke. "And where   
would the rest of the attackers be exactly?" Face blank and without expression, Brin   
answered. "About two klicks away, west of here. Near the 2nd stream you'll find, camped   
in a small clearing near drill area E." Renfro turned and barked out an order to one of the   
team commanders. Two full platoons of troopers moved off in the said direction. Another   
continued to center their weapons on Brin. The rest guarded the prisoners. Renfro turned   
her icy blue eyes to Brin. "This better not be some kind of trick soldier, cause there's   
going to be hell to pay if it is. But I don't think you'd be stupid enough to try anything of   
that sort and expose yourself to this type of risk, now would you?" Her voice still reeked   
of rage and frustration at her own uncertainty. Unwaveringly, Brin answered. "No Ma'am.   
Never." All around them the guards tensed their muscles in anticipation of the upcoming   
battle that was sure to take place.   
  
A few minutes later a massive series of explosions lit up the treeline to the   
west of them, flinging flaming bits of wood and foilage up to 40 feet in the air. Massive   
plumes of smoke and flame plumed into the air, filling their nostrils with the powerful   
scent of high explosive destruction.   
  
Almost simultaneously someone opened fire on them from two different   
directions, one from a building in front of Renfro, another from behind. Soldiers dropped   
like flies as they scrambled for cover, abandoning the prisoners. The X7's moved to   
protect the director, one of them tackling her to the ground while the rest returned fire,   
even as a few of them were cut down.   
  
The director pushed the X7 away from her and got to her feet. She began   
to hurry for the protection of the nearest cover.   
  
Only to be intercepted by Brin in one blindingly fast dash, who seized her   
with a grip of pure steel and locked her arms around her throat, instantly applying harsh,   
suffocating pressure, and rendering her unable to move. "Nobody move or I break the   
bitch's neck!" In the midst of struggling to inhale enough air to keep herself alive, Renfro   
noted that the side in power of the situation had drastically and suddenly changed.   
Everyone in the area remained where they were, the shock inflicted by the quickness of the   
assault more at fault than Brin's sharp, fierce command. "Let them go. Now!" The guards   
hesitated. Brin tightened her hold on Renfro's neck. "I said now!" The director gasped   
quietly. "Do it." They uncuffed the threesome and moved away from them. "Drop your   
weapons." Brin noticed out of the corner of her eye an X7 slowly creeping towards her.   
She whipped her hostage around so that she was between her and the incoming threat.   
  
"Tell the little fuckers to back off" she whispered menacingly into the other woman's ear.   
  
Renfro paused for a moment, as if caught in indecision. Everyone held their breath.   
  
Then, voice wearied and drained, she told the kid to stand down. At the   
same time Logan helped Max onto her feet and wrapped his arm around hers, gently   
pulling her along as she limped forward slowly on her uninjured leg. Zane joined them,   
grasping his shoulder where he had been hit. Brin watched nervously as her comrades   
made their way to her side. "You guys alright?" "I've had better days." Max replied.   
"Let's get out of here." Brin stalled for a moment, as if recollecting some obscure piece of   
information that she had neglected to consider. "What happened to Kri—" Her words   
were cut off by the defeated look on Max's face. No more words were needed for her to   
understand. Pure rage flowed like water through Brin's body as her arms tightened around   
her hostage's throat, wanting more than anything to rip the foul bitch's very head from her   
body. She almost did too. A alarmed look from Zane and her own willpower and self-  
control narrowly prevented it. She fought back her feelings just in time to avoid destroying   
their only escape route. Reconnoitering, she began to drag Renfro backwards as she spoke   
again. "They got the van. There's a garage----" she motioned with her head—"with two   
hummers in it, not far from here. Let's m---"   
  
Max looked past her head and saw the black barrel of the rifle sticking out   
of one of the building windows behind Brin. Words formed in her mouth to call out a   
warning. She was too late. Again.  
  
They all watched as the bullet punched a neat hole in the back of Brin's   
head and exited out the other end, splattering dark red, fleshy gore into the director's   
platinum blonde hair.  
  
As her final act, Brin's arms twisted quickly and violently, producing a   
sharp cracking sound as she snapped Renfro's neck in half.   
Syl and Jondy, who had been hiding in the building on the opposite side,   
opened fire before the guards could get to their weapons, driving them back into cover, if   
only temporarily. Max stared at her sister's body, frozen in horror for nearly two seconds   
before Logan pulled her away from the pool of crimson emanating from Brin's head and   
towards the building which housed the nearest escape. They weren't moving fast enough,   
as stray bullets thudded into the ground near their feet, uprooting grass and chunks of dirt.   
Zane rushed to her side and screamed to Logan "Go!, I'll take care of her!" Logan insisted   
on staying with her but was jolted awake to the dangers of their current location as   
another round whizzed past his left ear. He turned to follow Zane, who was carrying her   
towards the garage, moving with incredible speed despite his load. He was hard pressed to   
keep up, and more than once he thought that one of the bullets would surely find it's way   
into his back. Fortunately for him, he made it into the building intact.  
  
"Zane, get the car ready!" He took 4 steps into the room, then abruptly plowed to   
a stop as he heard a gunshot and saw Zane crumbled on the floor, blood pouring from his   
body and spreading across the floor. Max lay several feet from where he was, glaring in   
hot defiance at the person who had shot him.   
  
Eva stood there once more, gun pointed directly at Max's head. "We could   
have been a family. We could have been great soldiers together. But no Maxie, you had to   
go and fuck it up." Her voice trembled with a mixture of pain, sorrow, and hatred. Max   
remained calm. She made her voice one of pleading. "Listen Eva, you don't have to do   
this. This place is not good for you, and it's not where you belong. You don't have to be   
their lapdog and do their dirty work. Come with us." "SHUT UP! I don't need to listen to   
your filthy propaganda." "It's the truth! Manticore is where they use you as a slave for   
doing horrible things to people. It's where they hurt you and torture you and keep you   
from living a real life! Don't you see, you're a prisoner here! They don't care about you!   
They don't love you! You're nothing but an expendable asset to them, and once you're no   
longer useful, they'll probably kill you to cover things up!" "SHUTUP!" "They'll make   
you hurt your family Eva, is that what you want? Don't you remember what they did to   
us?"   
  
Eva thought of the horrible acts perpetuated against her and the others   
during their childhood, of the beatings, abuse, and torture that they were put through. Of   
all the experiments and training exercises firmly etched into her memory like an permanent   
scar upon her soul. Of those that didn't make it.... those that were dragged away to be   
dissected like frogs due to the seizures and those who were executed to make an example   
for the rest of them. Of the constant hell they all went through day by day, hour by hour,   
victim by victim, an endless symphony of fear, pain, and unspeakable horror.   
  
"They were for our own good" she said calmly, with utter conviction. "We   
were soldiers. Soldiers need discipline. Training. Proper motivation. We were born weak,   
they made us strong. They made us better than the dirty filth and degenerates on the   
outside. It was the right thing to do. But now I see you've become dirty and corrupt, just   
like those rats on the outside. We tried to bring you back, but you refused to cooperate.   
So I'm sorry I have to do this now." Her voice became tremulous and stricken with grief   
as her finger tightened on the trigger.   
  
The entire time they had been talking, Logan's attention was directed at   
the bulge in his right boot. A little something the guards had forgotten to take care of. He   
went for it now. His hands dashed towards the gun, snatching the 9mm from it's hiding   
place, dropping to his knees as he lifted it to fire..... only to be struck again and again as   
Eva's bullets slammed into him, spraying his blood outwards from his chest, causing it to   
pour down in little murky streams along the length of his shirt and soak deep into the   
fabric. The intense burning pain and severe puncturing of his heart and lungs overcame   
him as he started to fall forward, but as he did, he made a weak yet surprisingly skillful(Or   
was it lucky) flick of his right hand, flinging the gun lightly and almost gracefully towards   
Max.   
  
Her mind stopped and her instincts took over as she caught the weapon   
with one hand, and shifted the black oblivion of it's muzzle towards Eva.   
  
Eva had already shifted her own gun back at her, and discharged it, taking   
Max in the shoulder of the arm she was holding the gun with. The bullet made it's way   
clean through, inducing searing, undeniable agony through the entire portion of her upper   
arm, as if someone had poured hot volcanic lava all over that part of her body. Ignoring   
the blinding pain and torn muscle, she raised the gun and fired. And again. And again. The   
force of the shots knocked her target backwards as the jacketed lead bullets pierced   
through her heart, tearing into the ventricles and arteries, jerking her limbs about like a   
puppet master from hell. Hot crimson came out in thick sprays from her chest,   
accumulating on nearby objects and the floor in little beads of moisture. Eva's gun   
dropped to the floor, the sleek black metal making a dull, inaudible clanking sound as it   
made contact. Finally there was a loud, empty click as Max's weapon finally emptied. Eva   
herself seemed to quiver slightly, and then toppled over backwards as if she had lost her   
balance. She lay very still as the curtain of red mixed with the colors of her uniform and   
spread outwards from her torso.   
  
Max's mind flashed back to that cold winter night of so long ago, to the   
face of a little girl holding a gun, and of Lydecker firing a single earth shattering metal   
bullet directly into her chest. Her mind replayed over and over again the sound of the   
deafening shot, the large circular stain of blood appearing as if though magic on the child's   
chest, and the same girl toppling over, her thin nightgown clinging to her body.  
  
|Except this time *I* killed her.|   
  
She shivered in horror as she crawled closer to Logan's unmoving form.  
  
As she looked down on his wounds, she knew they were certainly fatal.   
But she could not, would not believe it to be true. He was alive. He had to be. It wasn't   
possible--- her heart stopped, and everything was purged from her mind except the need   
to know he was alright, that he was alive, for him to open his eyes or talk or breath or do   
anything to prove her fears wrong. She checked him for a pulse, hoping against hope,   
unrelentingly willing herself to find one, for him to have one. And she found none. |No.   
This can't be happening. This isn't real!!! He can't be—He can't be---| she continued to   
search for vitals, some sign of life, some sign he was still here, with her.  
  
And found nothing. |No. Logan. GODDAMMIT DON'T DIE ON ME!   
DON'T GO! PLEASE DON'T! TALK TO ME DAMMIT, DAMN YOU YOU CAN'T   
DO THIS TO ME, YOU CAN'T, I WON'T LET IT, I WON'T LET YOU---|   
  
But part of her knew he was already gone.   
  
She was not conscious of what happened next, as her body ceased to obey   
the commands of her brain, and her brain stopped functioning altogether. She vaguely   
remembered holding him, cradling his head in her arms, rocking him back and forth like a   
mother holding her child, the hot wet tears streaming down her face, all the pain of all the   
years and all the suffering she had carefully kept hidden inside of her came flooding   
through the cracks of the walls she had set up to shield herself. All accompanied by deep,   
throaty noises that seemed to be coming out of nowhere, akin to sobs, though she couldn't   
seem to hear them. The whole world seem to fade away and vanish for an indefinite   
pocket of time.... She was unaware of Jondy and Syl's presence until Jondy had her face   
right next to her's, and was yelling into her ear, whatever words she was spewing forth   
slipping into her ears as nothing but muffled, silent, incomprehensible jibberish. Nothing   
but nonsensical background noise to the bottomless well of her everlasting grief and pain,   
a pain greater than anything physical she could ever suffer, far more than anything she had   
ever felt or possibly imagined.  
  
For an indeterminable, seemingly endless series of seconds, she was falling.   
Falling and falling and falling, towards a bottomless black pit inside of her mind, nothing   
around her but images of the gun firing again and again, his chest being pierced and   
bloodied over and over, like some sick fucked up movie being played to torture her for all   
eternity. And then she felt someone's fingers on the back of her neck, pressing down on   
her pressure points, and she collapsed into his cold lifeless shell of a body as all her senses   
vanished into nothingness.   
  
  
Author's note: Hell yes, Logan is dead. Bring on the hate mail. I could care less.   
  
  
  



	13. Shattered Dreams, Shattered Soul

  
Rating:R  
  
Max sat quietly on the rim of the space needle, her mind a turbulent hell   
storm over the events of the last 24 hours. The wind blew through her soft hair, lifting it   
like a gentle wave. She sat there, legs in front of her, face framed perfectly against her   
lightly billowing hair, eyes looking out into the Seattle skyline. Her black leather jacket   
clung tightly to her skin, enveloping her in it's smooth yet rough material. Her brown doe-  
like eyes were pale and still beautiful, despite the countless tears that had flowed from the   
formerly vibrant irises. The young woman's entire countenance was silent, cold, entirely   
devoid of the spunk and fiery glow that used to emanate off of her very presence. There   
was nothing left but a hollow shell where that person had once been, and if you were to   
look into those eyes carefully enough, you would see what lurked beneath the surface,   
beneath the cold dead eyes, and you would see the overwhelming pain and rage, pure   
rage, like a lightning bolt trapped in a bottle, aimed at no one, impotent inside her scarred   
and battered soul. The emotions lay hidden behind the soft brown pupils that stared out   
into the empty landscape. To your average observer looking form a distance, she would   
have looked beautiful and serene, absolutely peaceful.   
  
But she was anything but calm and peaceful.   
  
She had finished her crying hours ago, when her family and Cindy were still   
there to comfort her, when it seemed that her life had ended back in that building, when it   
seemed that all she had to live for was torn away in an instant. They told her that he was   
gone. Gone, just like that. Impossible. But it was true. Horrible, unimaginable,   
indescribable. But true. For the longest time, minutes, hours maybe, she couldn't bring   
herself to believe it. After she woke up, she screamed and cursed at them. Poured out all   
her agony and hatred at them for leaving him there. She said he wasn't dead, that he   
couldn't be dead, that they could still save him. She knew it was a lie. They told her as   
much. They told her that he loved her, that they loved her, that even though it hurt, even   
though he was dead and nothing could bring him back, that she could survive, that one   
day she could go on, that it wasn't her fault and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  
  
Bullshit. It was her fault. It was her fault he got involved. It was her fault   
that he was dead. All her fault and no one else's.  
  
He would have been better off if she never broke into his apartment that   
night, if they had never met. If she had stopped him from coming along and helping in a   
fight that was never his. If she wasn't so stupid thinking they could save Krit without   
anyone getting hurt, so stupid to try to change what could not be changed, so stupid to   
walk into a trap in the first place. And in the end what happened? They went in there and   
they lost him for nothing. Krit was dead. So was Brin. And Eva.   
  
She didn't blame Eva for what she did though. Her heart was full of hatred   
at first, but that later subsided when she realized that Eva was a victim as well. She was   
nothing but a pawn, a mindless brainwashed slave of the people who took away their   
childhood and their innocence. Who made them the victims that they were. Who turned   
them into fugitives and robbed them of a normal life, family, friends, people to care about.   
She may have pulled the trigger, but they were the ones who were pulling the strings.   
  
Not like there was anything she could do about it. Things would go on as   
usual. They split up again, the 3 that were still left, and they would have to go on the run.   
Just like before. They had to. Syl gave everyone a new contact number before she, Zane,   
and Jondy left the area to head their separate ways. It would come in handy if they ever   
needed each other's help again or if they wanted to get back together, though max   
doubted that would ever happen. They had lost so much, and it was all for nothing.   
Manticore would recover. They would bring someone in to replace Renfro, and they   
would continue the hunt until they were all dead or back in a cage. They would never stop   
looking, never leave them in peace. And even if someday Manticore were to disappear off   
the face of the earth, there would always be others. Other governments, other   
organizations.   
  
They could never be normal, never have family or friends, never be loved,   
for to love them was death. They were a curse upon everyone they cared about, and   
everyone who cared about them would suffer and die. And sooner or later the same thing   
would happen to them.   
  
When she realized this at last, after so many empty hopes and dreams, after   
so many times it seemed that it would all end, that she could stop running and settle down   
with a man she loved and live happily ever after like in some fairy tale, she wanted to   
throw herself off the needle. She wanted to scream, break things, cut herself, tear her hair   
out, break every bone in her miserable freak show body, kill herself in any and every way   
possible. And why the hell not? What did she have to live for? For her so-called freedom?   
For the freedom to keep running for the rest of her misery-filled, tormented, likely short   
lived existence? For watching those around her get cut down one by one, with no way to   
save them? For a life full of nothing but never ending suffering, pain, and ever present   
fear? To live constant fear that at any place, at any given time, around any corner on any   
minute of the day they'll come for you? To live so that more innocent people could get   
hurt or killed simply because of what you are?   
  
|Max, you fucking moron. You believed in something that was never there.   
Zack was right. It's all phony sentimental bullshit. You really thought you could change   
things? You really thought you could create a better life, that you could settle down and   
be happy one day? That you could be NORMAL? Bullshit. Zack told you as much. He   
told you that you were soldiers, and that was all that mattered was that one simple fact,   
and the objective to keep moving in a whole world of hostile enemy territory. You should   
have listened to him. You should have given up on this fucked up dream of yours before it   
killed him. Before it killed Brin and Krit and Eva and Logan. Before it took all this death,   
all this wretched pain and misery and suffering for you to come to your damn senses.|   
  
Their deaths, the deaths of those closest to her, were not only tragic. Not   
just painful. Not just horrible, not just undeserved, not just indescribably wrong. It was   
completely and utterly USELESS. They died for nothing, each and every one of them,   
they died because they listened to her, because they believed in her stupid dream, her   
stupid crazy ideas. You'd think she'd learn the first time, after Zack blew his brains out   
just to save her sorry ass who got them in that mess in the first place. But no. She had to   
repeat the same tragic, pointless, wasteful error all over again. And now she had lost more   
of those who she loved, more of those who had brought life and brightness and warmth to   
her debased existence.   
  
|Family is not an option. Not for us.|  
  
Zack's words came back to her like a onrushing bullet train racing towards   
her mind at 300 mph, slammed into her consciousness making her feel as if she had been   
hit by one. She could never have a life with a family or a single friend, for hers was utterly   
lonely and forever one of lethal danger to those around her. She would always be running,   
always be trying to hide, always attempting to escape her past but never succeeding, like   
the man pushing a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again every time it reached   
the top. This was her life, her wretched damned fate. To play a massive, unrelenting game   
of Escape and Evade for all eternity. Or at least for as long as she lived and managed to   
keep winning that game. And who knew how long that could be?  
  
Only one way to find out really.  
  
She was leaving Seattle tommorrow morning.  
  
Cindy tried to stop her, begged her not to, pleaded with her saying as long   
as she lay low they could all be safe, she managed to stay that way for all this time, after   
all. She merely smiled and continued to shove her sparse luggage into the black duffel bag.   
Some clothes, food, water, cash, sector passes, basic necessities of life. No need to bring   
anything else where she was going. When Cindy tried to take things out of the bag Max   
did nothing to stop her, instead merely calmly and quietly placing them back in. After   
awhile her friend gave up hope, looking her in the eye and realizing that there was nothing   
she could do to keep her here. |"You're gonna go no matter what I say, aren't you? "Fraid   
so. I've caused enough people I care about to wind up 6 feet under. Or dissected for spare   
parts." "Dammit boo." "Don't feel too bad boo. I'll be sure to drop by and visit once in   
awhile." Even though she knew it was a lie. "It might take time, but you can live on   
without me. "Find yourself a new roommate, someone else to be your friend, someone   
else to talk to. Forget about me."| It hurt like hell to say it, and it hurt even more to hug   
her for the last time. Max pulled out of her best friend's embrace after a few seconds, any   
longer and the raging war of emotions inside of her would come down like a unstoppable   
avalanche that would swallow her alive. It was best to leave while she still had it in her to   
step out of the door.   
  
And so she did.   
She stopped by Foggle Towers one last time before coming to the needle.   
She found Bling there. She remained silent as he shed tears and talked of her and Logan,   
what might have been, how he knew all along what was going on between them before   
either of them had the strength to realize it. He talked of how he first met Logan, of the   
strength of spirit and the pure determination of how he pursued his dream of being able to   
walk again, of how fiercely he fought to adapt to his new disability, of his pure power of   
will and courage in working on both his muscle treatments and saving the world through   
Eyes Only. Of how he was the greatest, bravest, most noble and goodhearted individual he   
ever knew. Of his caring and desire to right the wrongs, to help and protect those in need   
against those who would exploit and harm the innocent. Bling vowed to do whatever it   
takes to continue the legacy of Eyes Only, to finish the work that Logan and those before   
him started and make America the land of freedom, equality, and justice that it once was.   
  
She wished him luck.   
  
Her Ninja 650 was at the base of the needle now, hidden behind some old   
crates and boxes. She had come up here one last time, to remember him, remember her life   
here in Seattle before she left it forever. To look at that skyline one last time. To look   
down on the beautiful lights of the city and to think of those who were normal, who had   
their own lives and their own problems, their own moments of pain and joy, the people   
and the events that made up their daily existence.   
  
Who would probably always be better off than her. Who would always,   
despite the unfathomable poverty, crime, suffering and despair that permeated every single   
day of their daily lives, still have a home, still have people to talk to and to hang out with   
and to love and to care about.  
  
And so she sat there, drowning in her own misery and sorrow for   
something that never was, and never will be. Hot big tears flowed once more from the   
brown irises trailing their moisture down her cheeks and nose.   
  
She sat there, an broken empty angel watching over an broken empty city,   
not once taking her eyes off the buildings glittering like constellations in the distance.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Finally. Never thought I'd finish, but the last chapter is   
finally done. If you don't like it, give me some advice as how to improve. Yes I   
know it may be highly depressing. Tell me what you like about it though. I live for   
feedback.   
  
  
  
  
  



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